Return of the Gamesmaster
by JasonLeeScottFan
Summary: Remember how the Gamesmaster said their would be a new game for the Joes and Cobra? Well, here it is and he's upped the stakes! Will the players survive? Pairings and special Author's Note inside. Please read and review.
1. Chapter 1

**The Return of the Gamesmaster**

**Disclaimer: **Hasboro owns G.I. Joe. All I own is the plot.

**A/N:** Here's the beginning of my new story. It features the return of a villain from season one: The Gamesmaster. Remember how he said that there would be a new game between Joe and Cobra? Well, here it is and this time he's upped the stakes! Pairings include Destro/Baroness, Lady Jaye/Flint, eventual Beachhead/Cover Girl and Scarlett/?. See the A/N at the end for more info on that. Anyway, onto the story!

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**Prologue:** Gathering the Players

Duke was humming to himself as he stepped out of the elevator into the parking garage and headed to his car. Now that his meeting was over, he was looking forward to relaxing in his apartment just off base. Maybe he'd even call Scarlett and see if she wanted to come over if she was back from shopping with Lady Jaye and Cover Girl.

He reached his car and smiled as he unlocked it and opened the door. But the next instant everything changed. As he went to get in, he was grabbed from behind and something sweet-smelling was pressed to his nose.

_Chloroform_, he realized as everything started to go fuzzy. He tried to fight back against his attacker, but his strength was fading too quickly. In only a few moments, he dropped unconscious to the ground.

* * *

Meanwhile, Scarlett was heading to the car where she was supposed to meet Lady Jaye and Cover Girl. The three had been shopping for hours now at the mall and in a few minutes; they would be heading back to headquarters.

As she neared the car, she heard a high-pitched squeaking noise off to her right. "Huh? I wonder what that was," She said out loud. She walked toward the noise to investigate, but as she darted behind a pickup truck, something slammed into the back of her head. She screamed as blackness consumed her and she fell to the ground, unconscious before she hit.

* * *

"Damn Greenshirts!" Beachhead growled to himself as he headed to the showers. "They get stupider and cockier all the time!" Suddenly, he stopped as he realized that he had left his clipboard outside. Swearing under his breath, he dashed back out to the training grounds to retrieve it.

"Hey, Beach, where's the fire?" Flint called out.

Beachhead looked to where the Warrant Officer was inspecting the AWE-Strikers. "There's no fire, I forgot my clipboard!" He shouted back. "It's got all my notes, times, and other stuff about the batch of Greenshirts I'm training!"

Flint laughed. "Training?" He asked jokingly. "All this time I thought you were running the poor souls into the ground!"

"Ha, ha, very funny, Flint," Beachhead retorted. "I have to be tough on them so at their very best when they go into combat. Serpentor and Cobra sure as hell ain't going to be merciful."

"I thought it was," Flint replied. "Anyway, I have to go shower. Lady Jaye will be back soon and we're supposed to go out to a show."

"Well, have fun," Beachhead told him.

"I always do with Lady Jaye," Flint said as he opened the door to enter the base. But as he started to go in, he stopped and turned back to Beachhead. "By the way, are you ever going to ask Cover Girl out?" Practically everyone knew that they liked each other, but they were too afraid to admit it to the other.

"That's none of your business!" Beachhead snapped. "Besides, why would she want to be with someone like me?" He turned and sprinted to the training grounds to retrieve his clipboard.

Flint shook his head as he went inside, wondering if Beachhead will ever get a grip and just relax like he needed to once in a while.

As he reached the training grounds, he saw his clipboard lying by the obstacle course. Walking over to it, he bent down to pick it up. But as he did so, the ground dropped out from under him and he fell down into some kind of large box-shaped container. He landed hard on his butt and before he could get up, a vent opened in the side and sprayed him with some kind of gas. Immediately he started coughing and feeling drowsy. He realized that it was some kind of knockout gas. But the realization came too late, for as soon as it hit, he was loosing consciousness. The last thing he heard before he blacked out was some kind of odd mechanical laughter.

* * *

While this was going on, hundreds of miles away at a secret Cobra base, Serpentor was chewing out Major Bludd. The two of them were outside by a HISS tank behind the base.

"Your incompetence has cost us for the last time, Major!" He thundered angrily.

Major Bludd shrank back from the Cobra Emperor. "But sire, it wasn't my fault," he protested. "The viper support team retreated against my orders!"

"Stop wasting my time with pathetic excuses, you insolent maggot!" Serpentor roared back. "You failed, and that won't be tolerated any more! Until you can prove yourself worthy, you will not lead any more operation, assaults, or any other kind of attack or strike! Now get you useless self out of my sight!"

Major Bludd started to reply, but thought better of it and fled into the base instead. As soon as he was gone, Serpentor shook his head. "Why am I always surrounded by worthless scum!" he muttered. He turned and started for his Air Chariot, which was parked several yards away from the HISS when he suddenly stopped and straightened as his right shoulder blade was struck with a stinging pain. "What the…" he started and reached around. Finding a small object poking out form himself, he plucked it out and looked at it. It was a small dart. _Who would dare shoot_… his angry thought broke off suddenly as he slumped to the ground, unconscious.

* * *

At the same time on the other side of the base, Destro was all alone in the small-craft hanger working on his new invention. If he could get it to work right, and eventually he would, then all the tanks and planes would have energy shields to protect them from enemy fire.

Destro smiled to himself as he worked. And then, it would be all over fro G.I. Joe. "If I could just get the booster array linked up and running, it would be almost ready," he muttered to himself as he fiddled with some switches and linked some cables together. Once that was done, he stepped back and wiped his hands on a rag.

"Now, it's time to test the booster array," he said, reaching for the power switch. He never reached it, though. Just before he touched it he was hit with an electric shock from behind in the neck. "Whaaaa…!" He cried out as his body began to convulse. He wanted to run to sound the alarm, but his body wouldn't cooperate. He managed only to let out a single scream before blackness overtook him and he fell to the floor, unconscious.

* * *

Meanwhile, Zarana was strolling through the woods that lined the north side of the base. She whistled to herself as she walked. She liked to come out here by herself every so often to just think and enjoy the solitude. The obnoxiously stupid Dreadnoks were enough to drive any sane person crazy and occasionally she just needed to be by herself to unwind.

Seeing a fallen tree trunk up ahead, she decided to sit down for a few minutes. She walked up to it and sat down. Turning to face the wind, she closed her eyes and let the gentle breeze wash over her, ruffling her short, red hair as it did so. She took a deep break, letting herself relax.

Suddenly, the tranquility was broken as the tree trunk began to roll forward. Shrieking and opening her eyes, she tried to throw herself off, but it was moving too fast; and before she could, it rolled into a open transport and slammed into the back wall. The force of it caused Zarana's head to hit the wall hard enough to knock her out and then fling her back the other way as the door was closing. It closed before she could reach it, though, and she rolled to a stop up against it. As soon as it was closed, it locked automatically with a click, and then the transport burrowed back underground the way it had came.

* * *

In a secret control center on his hidden island, a tall, heavy bald man with black sideburns, and goatee grinned. He was wearing a black suit with a red bow tie. "Everything is going according to plan. Very soon I will be having so much fun!" He cackled gleefully.

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**A/N:** So what did you think? Is it going to be good? Please review on you way out.

**A/N 2:** Concerning Scarlett, who do you want her to be with? Snake-Eyes or Duke? Let me know in your review or PM me with your opinion. Thank you.


	2. Chapter 2: Aftermath

**The Return of the Gamesmaster**

**Disclaimer:** Same as chapter 1.

**A/N:** Thanks for all the reviews! I really appreciate them! So please keep them coming. Now onto chapter 1.

* * *

**Chapter 2: Aftermath**

About twenty minutes later that same evening, the Baroness walked into the control room in Cobra Base and approached Cobra Commander. "Commander, have you seen Destro?" She asked. He was supposed to meet me in the computer room ten minutes ago."

The Commander turned to face her. "Actually, I haven't," he replied. "But when you see him, tell him that I need to talk to him pronto."

She nodded. "I will." She turned to leave when Zartan rushed in.

"Zarana's missing!" He exclaimed.

The Baroness gave him disbelieving look. "What makes you say that?" She asked scornfully.

"She went for a walk in the woods and never returned," Zartan replied. "We've got to…"

"She's probably still there," Cobra Commander broke in.

"Or maybe she finally got smart and got away from your sorry self," The Baroness added,

giggling under her breath.

Zartan glared at her. "That's not funny, you selfish snob!" he snapped angrily.

"Who are you calling a selfish snob, you worthless overdramatic scum!" She retorted. "You…"

"Silence, both of you!" The Commander bellowed, cutting her off. He walked over to a console and pushed a button. "Serpentor, come in," he said. He waited several seconds but got no response. "Serpentor, are you there? If you are, respond immediately. This is Cobra Commander and we may have trouble." There was still no response.

The Baroness and Zartan exchanged looks. This was very odd. Serpentor always responded when someone called him, even if it was just to chew the person out. "Try Mindbender," Zartan suggested.

The Baroness nodded. "He always knows where Serpentor is," he agreed.

Cobra Commander pressed another button on the console. "Dr. Mindbender, come in," he said.

Immediately, the screen in front of him lit up, showing Mindbender in his lab. "Yes, what is it, Commander?" He asked impatiently. "I'm rather busy right now."

"Where is Serpentor? He's not answering my calls," the Commander answered.

"Do you think maybe it is because he does not want to speak to you," Mindbender sneered back.

"Even if that's true, which it isn't, he would still answer just to tell me that," Cobra Commander retorted. "You of all people should know that!"

"Maybe not," Mindbender told him. "He does get sick of having to yell at you and berate you all the time!"

Cobra Commander made a dismissive gesture. "Whatever. Just where is he?"

"He's where he always is, in his chambers," Mindbender said. "Now if you'll excuse me." He started to turn away and end the transmission.

Before he could though, the Baroness stepped up to the Commander's side. "Wait, it's very important," she said quickly. "Destro and Zarana have disappeared and we urgently need to speak with him."

"Well, go to his chambers and do so, then!" Mindbender snapped. "In the meantime, stop wasting my time!" The screen went dark.

"That sniveling asshole!" Cobra Commander snarled, slamming his fist on the console.

"What are we going to do now?" The Baroness asked.

The Commander turned to her. "We go to his chambers and check it out," he replied, getting up. "Come on." He headed for the door and the other two followed right behind him.

* * *

"That idiotic Commander," Dr. Mindbender muttered, returning to his work. "He couldn't find his own ass in broad daylight without a homing beacon!" He picked up a beaker filled with a green liquid off his table and turned to carry it to a test tube. As he did so, he came face-to-face with two vipers. "What are you two doing here?" he asked coolly.

The one on his left cleared his throat nervously. "Sir, Serpentor is not in his chambers," he said\ formally.

His companion nodded. "We were just there. We were going to give him the report on our last battle that he had requested," he added.

"What?!" Mindbender exclaimed, setting down the beaker back on his table. Without waiting for a response, he rushed out of his lab and straight to his Emperor's chambers.

Once there, he ran straight into Cobra Commander, the Baroness, and Zartan outside the door.

"What are doing here?" Cobra Commander asked him, surprised.

"That's none of your concern," Mindbender told him. Brushing by him, he opened the door and went inside. The others followed him and after a complete search, found no trace of him at all.

"This doesn't make any sense," Mindbender said as they met by the door again.

"We need to search the entire base," Zartan told the others. They agreed, and after contacting the rest of the Cobra brass and informing them of the situation, did just that.

An hour later the base had been thoroughly searched from top to bottom both inside and out and there was still no sign of Serpentor; or Zarana and Destro for that matter. Zandar and Stormshadow even searched the woods, to no avail.

"Something's very wrong here," Tomax stated when they were gathered after the search.

Xamot nodded. "I agree," he said.

"How in the hell could the three of them just disappear without a trace like that?" Zartan wondered, speaking to no one in particular.

"It's got to be G.I. Joe," Cobra Commander said.

For once, Dr. Mindbender agreed with him. Something was going on. "I don't know, but I have a very bad feeling about this," he said. The others nodded in agreement.

* * *

Meanwhile, at Joe Headquarters General Hawk was worried as well. He had been looking for Duke for the last twenty minutes without any success. _Where could he be_? He wondered to himself. _I know his meeting's over because he called to let me know that as soon as it had ended_. He turned a corner and saw Flint heading walking down the hall, heading in his direction.

"Hey, Flint, have you seen Duke?" He called to the Warrant Officer.

Flint shook his head. "No, I haven't," he answered. "Not since before his meeting, anyway."

"Darn," Hawk said, disappointed. 'I really needed to talk to him."

"Maybe Scarlett knows where he is," Flint suggested. "The two of them seem to have gotten closer recently."

Hawk knew that was true. He also knew that Duke has a huge crush on her. But it was impossible to tell if she returned his feelings. And he wasn't the only one who liked her, either. Lately Snake-Eyes had been hanging around her a lot. And even though the commando was mute, he could tell from his body language that he was interested in her. "Maybe, but she's not back from her shopping trip with Lady Jaye and Cover Girl yet," he replied.

Flint opened his mouth to speak again, just then, Lady Jaye rushed up to them, breathless and panting. Cover Girl was right behind her. "Scarlett's been kidnapped!" She shouted.

"She's been what?!" Hawk exclaimed in shock.

"Kidnapped. In the mall parking lot," Lady Jaye repeated.

Cover Girl nodded. "We split up at the end and agreed to meet at the car. When the two of us got there, there was no sign of her. So we searched the parking lot and all we found was her shopping bags behind a pickup truck." She held them up.

"Why would she have gone behind a pickup truck?" Flint wanted to know.

"I don't know. Maybe she heard a noise or something," Lady Jaye replied.

"A million bucks says Cobra's behind this," Cover Girl said.

"It would be just like them," Flint agreed.

"Hawk, we've searched the whole base and there's no sign of Duke," Roadblock said, coming up to him followed by Gung-Ho, Ace, and Bazooka.

"Dammit," Hawk muttered.

"Maybe he went somewhere after his meeting," Bazooka suggested.

Hawk shook his head. "That's a nice theory, but he would have told me if he had," he replied.

"Well, maybe he was kidnapped like Scarlett was," Lady Jaye spoke up.

"That's possible," Flint told her.

"Wait, Scarlett was kidnapped?" Gung-Ho asked in disbelief.

"Yes," Lady Jaye told him and went on to describe what happened.

"Wow, we have to find her!" Roadblock exclaimed.

Just then, Hawk's cell phone rang. "Excuse me," he said, turning away and answering it. A minute later when he turned back, his face was grimmer than ever. "That was one of the people he met with. When he was walking to his car, he saw Duke's still there with the door open. He searched the whole garage but found no sign of Duke anywhere."

"He was kidnapped like Scarlett," Lady Jaye said.

"It does seem that way," Hawk agreed.

"But who could pull this off?" Ace asked.

"Who'd want to?" Roadblock added.

"Cobra," Gung-Ho stated firmly. They all realized he was right. Cobra could and would do it.

"Guys! Beachhead is missing!" Wet-Suit cried, running up to them with Leatherneck.

"He's right. I went out to get something and saw his clipboard on the ground by the obstacle course. But he was nowhere around!" Leatherneck added.

"I passed him an hour ago as he was going out to get it. He told me he'd forgotten it when he had come in from training the Greenshirts," Flint said.

Hawk groaned. "Not Beach too!" He wailed.

"What do you mean 'not Beach too'?" Wet-Suit asked him.

"Duke and Scarlett have been kidnapped," Hawk answered. He turned to Roadblock. "Did any of you see him while you were looking for Duke?"

The four searchers shook their heads. "Now that you mention it, no," Roadblock replied. The other three nodded in agreement.

"We've got to find him," Cover girl said, looking extremely worried.

"Chances are, he's with Duke and Scarlett, wherever they are," Flint told her.

Hawk nodded. "Roadblock, you and the others inform the rest of the Joes about this and keep searching. Lady Jaye and I will go out to where each of them was last seen and search for clues."

"You got it, Hawk!" Roadblock told him. "Come on, guys, let's go!"

"Yo, Joe!" they all cried as they turned and hurried off.

As they did, Gung-Ho's voice came floating back. "Cobra's going to pay for this!"

"Absolutely," Hawk said with a nod. He and Lady Jaye headed for the spot were Beachhead was last seen, since it was the closest.

But to all the Joes' dismay, no sign of their comrades were found that night. And at the Cobra base, it was the same. And thus, both bases were full of worried people that night.

* * *

**A/N:** So what did you think? Coming up, the Joes and Cobras keep searching for their comrades as the game begins! So stay tuned and please review on you way out!

**A/N 2:** This is your last chance to tell me who you want Scarlett with if you haven't already done so! Next chapter it will be revealed so please vote by review or PM if you already haven't! Thank you!


	3. Chapter 3: The Game Begins!

**The Return of the Gamesmaster**

**Disclaimer:** Same as before. I own nothing except the plot.

**A/N:** Here's chapter three. The game has started! Also Scarlett is now seeing someone. Read to find out who and please review on your way out!

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**Chapter 3: The Game Begins!**

The first thing Duke noticed when he awoke was that he had no idea where he was, or how he had gotten here for that matter. The last thing he remembered was opening his car and going to get in; then there was a flash of intense pain followed by blackness. He shook his head in an attempt to clear away the grogginess he felt. It didn't work very well though, so he shut his eyes.

But as soon as he did, a piercing alarm split the air. "What in the bloody blue blazes is going on?" He yelped, covering his ears.

In the bed next to him, Destro sat bolt upright. "What the hell is that noise?" He demanded.

"Where in the world are we?" Zarana asked, sitting up in her bed.

"And how did we get here?" Scarlett added, rubbing her aching head. "The last thing I remember is walking in the parking lot of the mall and then someone or something grabbing me from behind and hitting me over the head."

"Speak for yourself," Beachhead told her, rubbing his temples. "I was picking up my clipboard when the ground dropped out from under me. Then I got sprayed with knockout gas. The next thing I know I'm waking up here."

"The ground dropped out from under you?!" Duke asked him in wonderment. "How in the hell could that have happened?"

Beachhead shrugged. "You got me," he replied. "I just wish I knew what the hell is going on." He paused for a moment. "I wish that damn alarm would quit!"

"Isn't it obvious you brainless imbeciles?" Serpentor exclaimed, sitting up and glaring at all of them. "We've been kidnapped! And whoever is responsible is going to be sorry once I get through with them!" He clenched his fist and slammed it into the palm of his other hand.

Duke rolled his eyes. "Spare us the dramatics, Serpentor," he said. "Let's just find a way out of here.

Scarlett walked around the gray room they were in and then turned to Duke. "There doesn't appear to be a way out, Duke," she told him.

"That shows what you know," Serpentor scoffed. Jumping out of his bed, he went to the nearest wall and punched it hard. But other than a loud bang, nothing happened.

Beachhead rolled his eyes. "Real smart move there, genius!" He said sarcastically. "Punching through walls always works!"

"Why you worthless piece of scum!" Serpentor roared. "No one talks to Serpentor that way!" He reached for one of the live snake javelins around his neck, but to his surprise, he found himself grasping empty air. "What?" He cried.

"Your javelins are gone, Serpentor," Destro told him.

Serpentor turned to glare at him. "Thank you Captain Obvious!" He said witheringly. Then turning back around, he muttered to no one in particular. "When I get through with whoever did this, they'll wish they were never born!"

Scarlett looked at Duke and rolled her eyes. They'd only been awake a few minutes and already Serpentor was driving her nuts. "Would everyone please just calm down," she said, speaking loudly over the others. "Right now the most important thing is finding a way out of here."

Serpentor turned to glare at her. "Shut up, Scarlett," he hissed. "I don't need a pathetic Joe telling me what to do!" His brown eyes narrowed dangerously as he continued to glare at her.

"Yeah, that's telling her, Serpentor!" Zarana exclaimed, coming up beside him.

"Oh, why don't you just shut you measly trap, Dreadnok witch!" Beachhead told her, sounding exasperated. "We have enough problems without your mouth running." Beachhead couldn't stand Zarana one bit and had no patience for her smart mouth.

"Why don't you come over here and make me, Ranger Boy!" Zarana sneered back. "Unless you're too scared, that is!"

"Lady, I ain't scared of nothing!" Beachhead retorted, starting towards her.

"Beachhead, as you were!" Duke commanded firmly.

He stopped midstride and looked back at the Joe First Sergeant. "But sir," he began.

"There's no buts about it, Beachhead," Duke cut him off sternly. "Like it or not, we're all trapped here together and that means that we have to work together to find a way out. So there will be no fighting right now!"

Beachhead saluted him. "Yes, sir," he replied reluctantly.

Serpentor, who had been watching the exchange silently, exchanged a look with Destro. "You guys are pathetic," he said disgustedly. Destro nodded in agreement.

"We're not the ones who are pathetic, you overgrown excuse for a human being!" Beachhead shot back angrily.

Serpentor growled and started to reply, but was cut off by a male voice speaking over an intercom from somewhere in the room. "Good morning, players!" It exclaimed jovially. "As amusing as this is to watch, it's time to get started."

"Get started with what?" Duke wanted to know.

"With the game of course!" The excited reply came back.

"What game?" Zarana asked.

"Who are you?" Serpentor demanded. "Are you the one responsible for kidnapping us?"

"Yes, and as for who I am, I'm the Gamesmaster! Welcome to my game! The rules are simple: all you have to do is find one of the five one-man helicopters all hidden in different places on the island. But since the island is full of surprises, it will be a lot harder than it sounds."

"What kind of surprises?" Scarlett wanted to know.

The Gamesmaster laughed. "You'll find out as you run into them!" He told her.

"Listen, cretin, do you have any idea who I am!" Serpentor hissed angrily. "I am the emperor of Cobra!"

"I don't care if you're the emperor of the world," The Gamesmaster replied. "All that matters is finding those helicopters so you can leave."

"Why you impotent bag of shit!" Serpentor snarled. "Just wait until…"

"Serpentor, shut up!" Duke snapped, cutting him off mid-rant. He turned to where the Gamesmaster's voice was coming from. "Hold on a minute. You said there are five helicopters hidden on the island. But there are six of us."

"Exactly!" The Gamesmaster said, cackling. "One of you won't make it off the island. And that person is the loser."

"Well, let's just leave Serpentor here while the rest of find those helicopters and leave," Beachhead spoke up.

"Shut up, Beachhead," Duke snapped before Serpentor could go off." He was sick and tired of all this stupid, pointless arguing. "Gamesmaster, what happens to the loser?"

"Sadly, he or she will die. But don't worry; five out of six surviving and winning is great odds. Now it's time to begin. So good luck and have fun!" He laughed manically and then went on. "Ready, set, go!"

Just as he finished speaking, the wall to the right of the line of beds exploded inward.

"Duck!" Duke screamed.

"Hit the floor!" Serpentor yelled at the same time. They all dove to the ground just as a flurry of shots from laser pistols came from the hole where the wall had been.

At the shpts whizzed over their heads, their attackers came through the large hole in the wall that they had created, causing everyone to gasp in surprise.

"What in the hell?" Duke cried.

"They look like toy army men!" Zarana exclaimed. She was right. They looked just like the miniature green army men that children played with, only man-sized and sporting real weapons.

"How can this be?" Scarlett asked. "We're being attacked by toys!"

"Not toys," Destro corrected her. "Robots designed to look like toys."

"Robots? How can you tell?" Duke asked as they upturned the beds and took cover behind them.

"Look at the way they move," Destro answered.

"Who cares what they are," Serpentor broke in. "Our main concerning is stopping them." As he finished speaking, he got an idea. Picking up a pillow off the floor, he held it out in front of him like a shield and charged them.

By the time he reached them, the pillow had been shredded and feathers were everywhere, but it had done its job; Serpentor was unscathed. Punching the gun out of the nearest one's hand, he threw it against the wall opposite where they had come from. Quick as lightning, he retrieved the fallen weapon and shot the now-rising robot. It exploded, blowing in a hole in the wall behind it. "This way!" He shouted, pointing at the hole, out of which daylight could be seen. He ran toward it, dodging the fire from the other robots. The others followed him and within moments, they were outside.

And not a moment too soon, for as soon as they were out, more of the soldier robots appeared in the room from the hole their comrades had created.

"That was close," Scarlett said breathlessly.

"A little too close, if you ask me," Zarana added, wiping her brow.

"Come on," Duke urged. "We've got to get away from here and into some cover!" He pointed to a grove of trees close by. Without a word, they all headed that way, wondering what other surprises lay in store for them. The game had only begun, but so far, the Gamesmaster had the lead.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at Joe Headquarters, a bunch of Joes were in the control center discussing their missing comrades. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm getting really worried," Lady Jaye said, a frown on her face.

"We're all worried, Lady Jaye," Hawk told her.

"I say we contact Cobra and demand that they return our people!" Gung-Ho spoke up.

"That won't work, Gung-Ho," Wet-Suit told him, shaking his head. "They'll just deny everything."

Snake-Eyes, who was standing next to Gung-Ho, clapped his hands to get everyone's attention. *I think we should just raid their base and take them back,* he signed. *I'll sneak in and free them while you guys are battling the Cobras.*

"You're forgetting one thing, Snake-Eyes," Hawk said. "We don't know where their base is."

*Oops, you're right,* he signed back, shaking his head. In his worry over Scarlett, whom he'd just started seeing romantically three weeks ago, he'd forgotten that significant fact.

"It's alright Snake-Eyes," Hawk told him as Gung-Ho patted his shoulder reassuringly. Just then, there was pinging sound from the control panel, indicating an incoming transmission.

"Who could that be?" Cover Girl wondered.

"I don't know," Hawk answered. "But we'll find out in a moment." He pressed a button on the control panel and instantly the monitors came to life, showing Cobra Commander, the Baroness, Zartan, and Dr. Mindbender.

"What have you done with Serpentor, Destro, and Zarana?" Cobra Commander demanded without preamble. Gasps and shocks of surprise from the gathered Joes filled the room.

"If you return them right now, you might live," Mindbender added.

"We don't know what you're talking about," Hawk replied.

"So just return Duke, Scarlett, and Beachhead right now and there won't be any trouble!" Gung-Ho added.

"How dare you accuse us of kidnapping your pathetic teammates!" Cobra Commander shot back as Zartan and the Baroness gasped. Dr. Mindbender gave no response to the accusation.

"How dare you accuse us of kidnapping yours!" Wet-Suit retorted angrily.

"Because they've disappeared and who else would take them!" Mindbender replied angrily. "So just stop messing around and return them!"

"Listen, you freak, we don't have them!" Lady Jaye snapped. "So just tell us where our people are!"

Flint didn't hear Mindbender's reply as he was deep in thought. Something about his teammates' disappearances had been nagging him all night long and now with Cobra Commander and Dr. Mindbender's accusations, and three of their people missing as well, he knew what it was. "Guys!" Flint cried, yelling to be heard over the arguing. "All of you be quiet and listen!"

Heads turned toward him instantly. "What is it, Flint?" Hawk asked him.

"This better be good," Cobra Commander warned. "Because I'm losing patience."

"I know who has all of our people, both Joe and Cobra," he replied.

* * *

**A/N:** So what do you think? So Scarlett is with Snake-Eyes. He had the most votes but She will be with Duke in my next fic, I promise! So all you D/S fans hang in there and be patient and it'll happen! Anyway, what's in stores for kidnappees next? Will they survive and or even work together so they can survive? Stay tuned to find out and please review! I really appreciate it!


	4. Chapter 4: Things heat up

**The Return of the Gamesmaster**

**Disclaimer:** Same as before.

**A/N:** Here's chapter 4. I'm sorry about the long wait, but I had trouble getting this one right. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it and please review!

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Chapter 4: Things heat up**

"Who has them, Flint?" Hawk asked him.

Flint turned to Lady Jaye. "Lady Jaye, remember when you, I, Cobra Commander, and the Baroness were kidnapped?" He wanted to know.

She nodded. "How could I forget? I thought you'd been killed at one point," she replied. That had been one of the hardest times of her life. A life without Flint would be a life half full for her.

"Yes, but remember who kidnapped us?" Flint went on.

"It was some moron who called himself the Gamesmaster," the Baroness spoke up.

"Yeah, he was a good-for-nothing fat bitch!" Cobra Commander added.

Lady Jaye giggled. "Yes, and seeing you stuck in butterscotch was the funniest part!" She exclaimed.

Hawk exchanged looks of incredulity with Leatherneck and Wet-Suit. "What the heck?" he asked.

"Hey, I wasn't the only one stuck in it, if you remember," Cobra Commander reminded her, ignoring Hawk. "Besides, when we thought Flint was dead was much funnier!" The Baroness laughed out loud at that.

"That was not funny, Fang Face!" Lady Jaye shot back angrily. "Just because you don't how to love…"

"Calm down, Lady Jaye," Flint cut her off. "We can discuss this later. Right now, all that matters is that it was the Gamesmaster that kidnapped us."

"Why?" Wet-Suit asked.

"Because he's the one who has our people now," Flint told him.

"But if he kidnapped the four of you before, wouldn't he been in jail?" Hawk wanted to know.

Flint shook his head. "No, he got away before we could capture him," he replied.

"But that still doesn't mean he has our people now," Hawk told him.

But Flint was undeterred. "All six of the victims disappeared without a trace at the same time, plus they were both Joes and Cobras taken. That's exactly what happened last time," he replied.

"But last time only four people were taken," Lady Jaye pointed out.

"Maybe he's upped the stakes or something," Flint told her.

"What exactly happened last time?" Leatherneck wanted to know.

Flint turned to him and began telling the story. While he was doing that, Lady Jaye, Gung-Ho, the Baroness, Mindbender, Zartan, Cobra Commander, and some others continued to argue over whether or not the Gamesmaster actually had their people.

This went on for several minutes until finally, Hawk had had enough. "That's enough, people!" he bellowed over their voices. Everyone looked at him and within moments silence reigned. "That's better," he went on. "I'd say the chances are good that this Gamesmaster person has our people." Hawk waved a hand for silence as several people began to speak at once. "However, knowing who has them doesn't mean squat if we don't know where they are."

"Hawk's right," Flint agreed.

"But they could be anywhere!" Cover Girl cried. "How are we going to find them?"

"We notify our contacts around the world to be on the lookout for them and send out search parties," Hawk replied going to the control panel and activating the communications system. Snake-Eyes nodded vigorously in agreement. "Get Dial-Tone and Breaker in here," he called over his shoulder to Flint.

"We better find them soon," Lady Jaye said as Flint went over to the intercom and started to speak into it.

"Before it's too late," Wet-Suit added.

* * *

"This can't be real!" Serpentor exclaimed as he walked along with the others through a meadow dotted with trees. "I mean, come on, trees with candy the size of apples of every color of the rainbow hanging on them?!"

"Not to mention lollipops as well!" Zarana added.

"And bushes with candy flowers and bonbon berries," Duke put in, pointing to them. They were growing here and there between the trees.

"Don't forget the sweet smells," Destro said.

"Like I just said, it can't be real," Serpentor repeated firmly.

"Wait a second, do you know what this reminds me of?" Scarlett asked suddenly.

"No, what?" Duke asked her.

"The chocolate room from _Charlie and the Chocolate Factory_," she replied. "You know, the one in which everything was edible?"

"You know, now that you mention it, you're right," Duke told her.

"What in the world are you talking about?" Destro asked them. "Chocolate room?"

Scarlett quickly explained about the movie and the chocolate room. When she was done, Zarana spoke up. "Blimey, I haven't seen that movie since I was a kid!" She exclaimed. "I had forgotten all about it! But you're right, Scarlett. It does look like the chocolate room!"

"Who cares what it looks like!" Beachhead exclaimed in annoyance. "Let's just keep walking and find those helicopters so we can get out of here!"

"For once, I agree with a G.I. Joe!" Serpentor announced. "Beach head is right." With that, he started to walk faster.

"Serpentor, wait up!" Zarana cried, running to catch up with him.

He slowed slightly. "Try and keep up," he told her impatiently. Destro, with his long legs, had no trouble keeping up with him. "The sooner we find those helicopters, the soon we can get the hell out of here!" The three Joes were right behind him.

"Just remember that we're all in this together!" Beachhead exclaimed as they hurried along.

Serpentor looked back and glared at him. "The day that I team up with Joes is the day pigs fly!" He shot back angrily. "Zarana, Destro, come on. Let's find those helicopters!"

"That's Serpentor for you," Beachhead told Duke and Scarlett. "Put him in a life and death situation and he's still the same selfish bastard as usual!"

Serpentor narrowed his eyes. "Shut your mouth you pathetic excuse for a person, or I'll shut it for you!" he threatened him.

Scarlett looked a Duke and rolled her eyes. "Why don't you do us a favor, Serpentor, and cut the dramatics!" She exclaimed wearily.

Serpentor opened his mouth to speak, but before he could voice his angry reply, a roar cut him off. All six of them whirled around to look in the direction that it had come from and gasped. Coming towards them were eight lions, all with mouths open and teeth bared.

"Look out everyone!" Duke screamed.

"They can't be real!" Scarlett exclaimed as they scattered. "Real lions aren't that brightly colored!" It was true. While real lions were gold and brown, these were a brilliant gold with bright brown manes. In fact, they resembled cartoon lions.

"Who cares!" Destro shouted. "Just…look out!" He screamed, interrupting himself and diving out of the way as one charged him. Quickly jumping to his feet, he climbed the nearest tree, frantically trying to get out of reach of the large and ferocious predators.

Just then, one opened its mouth, but to everyone's surprise, a laser blast shot out instead of the expected roar. "They're robots!" Beachhead exclaimed, dodging the blast.

"It figures that all this pathetic guy can throw at us is robots," Serpentor said, and grunted as he tore a branch from a tree and hit one over the head with it. It crashed to the ground, but sprang right back up and charged him again. "Dammit!" He swore, holding the branch out in front of him in an attempt to hold it off and trying to evade at the same time.

"Destro's got the right idea!" Duke cried. "Everyone, climb a tree! Get as high as you can!"

"Cats can climb, Duke!" Beachhead told him, as he rolled out of the way of laserfire from one.

"Yeah, but these are robots, and these trees aren't that big!" Duke shouted back, climbing a tree. "They won't hold their weight; especially up high!"

"Duke's right!" Scarlett shouted, as she pulled herself up into a tree and went high. Within moments, all six of them were safely high up in trees.

"Whew, that was close," Zarana exclaimed in relief from her tree.

"It's not over yet,' Duke told her. "They're still down there." He was right. They were all milling around, looking up at them, roaring and growling.

"Well, what are we going to do?" Zarana wanted to know.

"We can't stay up here forever!" Scarlett added. "If they start blasting again, they could destroy the trees out from under us!" As if to prove her point, one opened its mouth and fired a blast at the tree that Beachhead was in. It struck a branch about eight feet below him, breaking it off and sending it crashing to the ground. "Beachhead!" She screamed as he scrambled to pull himself even higher.

"We gotta do something!" Beachhead exclaimed a little breathlessly.

"We go down and fight them until they are destroyed!" Serpentor announced, starting to climb back down. "There are six of us and eight of them. We can take them!"

"Serpentor, no!" Duke screamed, stopping him in his tracks, as more blasts hit the trees, breaking more branches and scattering leaves and candy all over the ground. "We don't have any weapons and they can just stay back and blast us to pieces!"

"I hate to agree with Duke," Destro put in. "But he's right. It would be suicide."

"Well, think of something else and fast!" Serpentor snapped back. "Because I'm not going to just sit up here for much longer while some mechanical misfits take potshots at us!"

Destro looked around and got an idea as he spotted something about a half mile away. "I've got it!" He cried. "There's a pond not far from here. We'll lead them to it and get them to follow us in!"

"That's brilliant!" Serpentor exclaimed. "The water will short out their systems!"

Duke agreed. "What are we waiting for? Let's go!" He started to scramble down his tree.

"But we get back on the ground; they'll attack us before we have a chance to do anything!" Zarana protested.

"Just hit the ground and take off running!" Scarlett told her, getting to jump down. The next instant, they had all jumped to the ground and took off running. The pack of robot lions was right behind them.

"It's working!" Beachhead cried.

"Just keep running, Beachhead!" Duke told him. "It's our only chance!" They all knew he was right. They had to reach the pond before the lions and hope that they followed them in. He picked up his speed and the others did likewise. It was a race against time and a race they had to win. Their lives depended on it.

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**A/N:** So what did you think? Getting intense huh? Will they reach the pond first and get the robots to follow them in the water? What's going to happen to them next? Stay tuned to find out and please review! (Reviews make my day!)


	5. The Game Continues

**The Return of the Gamesmaster**

**Disclaimer:** Same as before.

**A/N: **A big thanks to Isis4 who was the only one to review the last chapter. Does anyone else even like the story? I don't know since I'm not receiving feedback! So please review and tell me what you think and if you have ideas or suggestions for the story. Now, onto chapter 5.

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**The Game Continues

Chapter 5:

Minutes later, running at full speed, they reached the pond. The Robot lions were right behind them.

"Everyone, into the water now!" Destro cried. There was no answer, just the splashes as everyone ran into the water.

When they were about twelve feet from the shore, they turned around to se what the lions were doing.

Beachhead groaned when he saw that they were standing at the water's edge, watching them. "It's not working!" He yelled to Destro.

"What's the matter, afraid to come and get us?" Duke taunted before Destro could answer. Picking up a handful of moss, he threw it at the lions. It hit the one in the middle in the face. Shaking it off, he roared and charged in after Duke.

"That's it, come and get me you overgrown hairballs!" Duke cried. They did just that, the other seven following the first one.

"Guys, come on. Keep swimming!" Destro urged. Everyone did and the lions followed them. But they hadn't gone far when the lions started sparking and smoking.

"It's working!" Zarana crowed excitedly. She was right. The six of them continued to swim slowly and watched as all the lions started exploding. Within moments, nothing was left of them except bits of metal.

"That was too close, Duke," Scarlett said, shaken up.

"That's an understatement," Beachhead told her.

"Come on, I think it's safe to get out of the water now," Destro spoke up. They all agreed and swam back toward the shore. As soon as they were out, they collapsed tiredly onto the ground.

"Well, that was fun!" Serpentor exclaimed sarcastically after several moments. Sitting up and taking off his cape, he began to wring it out.

"Yeah, I wonder what's next," Beachhead replied, matching the Cobra emperor's tone, as he sat up and removed his balaclava and wrung it out.

"Whatever it is, it won't be good," Duke told him, sitting up as well.

"We'd better be ready for anything," Destro said, climbing to his feet.

"We'd better get moving," Scarlett corrected him, standing up and wringing out her long hair.

"Scarlett's right," Duke said. "The sooner we get moving, the sooner we find those helicopters." He jumped up and looked around.

Zarana stood up quickly. "Then what are we waiting for?" She cried. "Let's go. She did not like this place one bit. It creeped her out.

"We will as soon as we figure out which direction to go," Destro replied as he, Beachhead, and Serpentor got to their feet. There was a short discussion and some bickering, but finally they settled on a direction. A moment later, they headed off.

* * *

"Okay, all the brass in Washington know what's going on," General Hawk announced, coming into the Joe command center where about twenty Joes were gathered. It was a few hours after they had talked to Cobra Commander and company.

"That's good, but what about our contacts in other countries?" Flint wanted to know.

"They have been notified and are conducting searches of their own," Hawk replied.

"But we know next to nothing about the Gamesmaster," Lady Jaye spoke up. "Just what happened before and that he uses toys with deadly weapons."

"Nevertheless, we will find them and rescue our people," Hawk told her firmly.

Snake-Eyes raised his hand to get Hawk's attention. *And make sure this Gamesmaster creep get put behind bars where he belongs,* he signed.

"You're exactly right, Snake-Eyes," Hawk said.

"But what about us?" Ace asked. "Shouldn't we be out searching too?" Snake-Eyes nodded vigorously in agreement.

"I have already sent some Joes out and I plan to send more," Hawk replied.

*I will lead. We must go now,* Snake-Eyes signed. He's had enough of this standing around. Every minute that passed meant more time for Scarlett in danger. It was time for action!

But before Hawk pr anyone could reply, a beeping sounded from one of the panels, indicating an incoming transmission.

"Hang on," Hawk said and went to answer it. He knew someone could have found them or clues leading to them. But when he answered, the screen lit up to show Cobra Commander, Dr. Mindbender, and the Baroness.

"Well, Hawk, have you found them yet?" The Commander said without preamble.

"We're working on it," Hawk replied, trying to keep his anger in check.

"Have you?" Gung-Ho asked, coming to stand beside Hawk.

"Not yet," The Baroness answered. "But I assure you, we're trying our best."

"That's not very comforting coming from people who's best is sitting on their butts while others do their work for them," Ace told Gung-Ho.

"Do you really think I'd just sit on my ass while Destro is in peril?!" The Baroness asked him incredulously.

"You have a lot of nerve saying that when you are doing nothing but that yourself!" Dr. Mindbender retorted, ignoring the Baroness.

"Oh yeah, you sniveling weasel; like we just sit back and relaxing when our comrades are missing!" Gung-Ho shot back angrily.

"Neither do we, you good-for-nothing whelp!" Mindbender snapped.

"Who're you calling good-for-nothing, baldy?" Gung-Ho retorted.

"You, you tattooed freak!" Mindbender shot back.

"You're way out of line, Mindbender!" Lady Jaye spoke up angrily before Gung-ho could reply.

"He's a low-life snake," Shipwreck put in. "All he knows how to do is put people down!"

"I'm sure; that's why I created Serpentor, you fool!" Mindbender retorted.

"That was luck!" Roadblock spoke up. "Not skill!"

"Fuck you!" Mindbender snapped angrily. "It took a genius like me to create him!"

Roadblock gave an angry retort as Ace snickered and suddenly everyone was arguing and fighting.

"ENOUGH!" Cobra Commander screamed over everyone before it could go on for long. His outburst startled everyone to silence as they looked at him. "All this pointless bickering and fighting is just wasting time and getting us nowhere!" He continued, lowering his voice.

"Cobra Commander is right," Hawk said firmly. "We must work together to find all of our missing people."

"For once," Mindbender muttered.

Everyone ignored him. I suggest that we all meet somewhere together and share information so we can find our missing people faster," Hawk said.

"But that won't work," Gung-ho protested. "Neither side trusts the other."

"We have to put aside our differences and call a truce," Hawk replied.

"I agree," Cobra Commander said.

Hawk nodded. "Then let's meet at the old unused control tower that's about thirty minutes north of here in three hours."

The Cobras agreed and moments later the transmission was ended. "Do you really think this will actually work?" Gung-Ho asked Hawk as soon as the screen went blank.

"It has to," replied Hawk. "Because it very well may be our best chance at finding Duke, Scarlett, and Beachhead."

"Hey, what's with Snake-Eyes?" Roadblock spoke up suddenly, nodding in his direction. They all looked and saw that the ninja commando was pacing rapidly back and forth with his head hanging down.

"Hey, Snake-Eyes, are you okay?" Dusty asked him, sounding worried as this behavior was not normal for him. He was usually very composed at all times.

Snake-Eyes stopped his pacing and looked at Dusty. Nodding, he began to sign. *Yeah, I'm just so worried about Scarlett and the guys. And I don't like having to depend on Cobra working with us to find them. You can't depend on them for anything but trouble.*

"I don't either, Snake-eyes," Hawk told him. "But I don't think we have a choice here."

Snake-Eyes nodded and then suddenly whirled and banged a fist against the wall to his left.

Everyone else in the room gasped at what they were seeing. Snake-Eyes was losing his cool! "Calm down, Snake-eyes, we'll find them," Hawk tried to soothe him.

"Besides, the wall's not the enemy here," Shipwreck quipped.

A bunch of incredulous looks were shot his way. "Shipwreck, nothing about this situation is the least bit funny!" Leatherneck snapped.

"I agree," Hawk said. "Cut the comedy now. This is neither the time nor place for it."

Snake-Eyes ignored the whole exchange. *If this Gamesmaster (He had to fingerspell that) freak or anyone else has so much as harmed a hair on any of their heads, they will pay dearly!* He signed furiously.

"Wow, Snake-Eyes is really worked up!" Ace exclaimed in surprise.

"That's because he's really upset," Flint told him. As for why, he had his suspicions.

"Okay people," Hawk broke in. "We need to gather all the data we have on their disappearances and the Gamesmaster and get ready to head over to the control tower." Like the others, he was surprised by how upset and emotional Snake-Eyes was and knew staying in action was the best course.

The others agreed and carried out his orders. Within an hour, they were ready to depart.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Cobra base, the Baroness was growing increasingly worried about Destro. She knew that he could take care of himself with the best, but it was little comfort to her, especially if it was the Gamesmaster who had him and the others. They needed to find him fast and if it took working with the Joes to do it, then so be it. She would work with the Joes. All that mattered was finding and rescuing Destro, as well as Serpentor and Zarana.

She shook her head at that last. She detested Zarana, but she was a Cobra after all. As for Serpentor; he and Cobra Commander were both pathetic leaders as well as egotistical maniacs. But they were still the leaders of Cobra and that meant that Serpentor must be found and rescued. Pushing her long black hair out of her face, she picked up a box of CD-ROMs, which was the last of the stuff they were bringing with them, and headed for the hangar, where the truck that would take to the meeting place with the Joes was waiting.

Entering the hangar, she saw that Cobra Commander, Zartan, Zandar, Dr. Mindbender, and Stormshadow were already there.

"Come on, Baroness," Zartan urged her. "Get the discs on board and let's go. "Every minute is crucial right now." Zandar nodded in agreement.

She gave him a dirty look. "Don't you worry, Zartan. We will find your precious sister," she replied sarcastically. "Now get off my back!" As she reached the truck she muttered, "Although knowing her, she has probably fallen somewhere and is unable to get back up." Stifling a giggle, she entered the truck, ignoring Zartan's nasty reply. Immediately, her thoughts returned to Destro and she sobered instantly. _Don't worry, darling, we will find you and make whoever did this pay dearly_, she thought as she sat down. She heard the others get in and seconds later, they were off.

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A/N: So what did you think? Am I keeping people in character? Do you like the story? Please review and stay tuned for more!


	6. Chapter 6: The Search is on

**The Return of the Gamesmaster**

**Disclaimer:** Same as before.

**A/N: **Here's chapter 6. I hope you enjoy and please review! And please read the special Author's Note at the end.

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Chapter 6: The Search is on!

"Man, where the heck are those helicopters?" Beachhead exclaimed in frustration. The six of them had been walking for hours. "It seems like we should have found them by now!"

His outburst startled the others as there hadn't been hardly anything said since they'd left the pond where they had destroyed the robot lions.

"They could be anywhere, Beachhead," Scarlett answered. "We just have to keep looking until we find them."

"But we have no idea how big this island is. We could be looking forever!" Zarana cried.

"If he was even telling the truth about them," Destro put in. "For all we know, he could have sent us out here on a wild goose chase."

Serpentor turned around. "I say we split up," he announced. "We'll find them quicker that way."

Duke shook his head. "It's too dangerous," he replied. "We don't know what sort of traps are waiting for us. We're safer sticking together."

"I did not ask you, you pathetic microbe!" Serpentor snarled back. "Unlike you, I can handle whatever is out there!"

Duke looked at him incredulously. He couldn't believe what he'd just heard. "You are one hell of an arrogant bastard, Serpentor!" He exclaimed.

"Not to mention selfish, egotistical, maniacal, self-obsessed…" Scarlett added.

"Like you have any reason to talk, you self-righteous bitch!" Destro snapped, cutting her off before she could finish.

Scarlett turned to glare at him. "Just what the hell is that supposed to mean?" She demanded, narrowing her eyes.

"It means Destro's a jackass!" Beachhead spoke up before Destro could answer.

"Oh, that was clever," Destro retorted, rolling his eyes.

"They're Joes, Destro," Serpentor reminded him. "Clever insults are not their strong suit." Zarana snickered at that, causing all three Joes to glare at her.

"At least we have strong suits, lady!" Beachhead snapped.

"Yeah, unlike you!" Scarlett added.

Zarana ignored them. Instead, she turned to Serpentor. "I'm hungry," she told him. "Can we eat before we split up?"

"Eat what?" Serpentor asked her. He gestured around him. "Do you see any food, or do you just expect some to fall from the sky?"

Now it was the Joes' turn to snicker. Zarana didn't have a brain God gave a lemon! And neither did Serpentor it seemed, as Duke looked around him. "There are berries over there," he said, pointing.

They all looked and realized that he was right. An instant later there was a stampede to the bushes where the berries were as all of them ran over at once.

"Out of my way!" Serpentor exclaimed, elbowing Duke aside and taking a handful.

"Get out of you own way!" Beachhead snapped, pushing him aside.

Serpentor stumbled back a step. "How dare you push me, you pompous pile of protozoa!" He screamed, his face twisted with fury and hatred. He raised a hand and backhanded Beachhead across the face with enough force to send him flying backward to land on his butt several feet away. Duke yelled in outrage as Serpentor stalked toward the fallen Joe ranger.

Beachhead got to his feet, prepared to fight to the death if necessary. But just as Serpentor got within punching range, he yelped in surprise as he was tackled from behind by Duke. The two landed on the ground and rolled around, trading punches and slaps.

"Get off of him, Duke!" Zarana screamed. Picking up a fallen branch, she charged the Joe first sergeant.

"Oh no, you don't!" Scarlett cried and intercepted her before she could reach her target. Performing an inside-out kick, she knocked the branch from her hand. Zarana yelped in pain, but before she could counter, Scarlett kicked her in the stomach, knocking the air out of her. She doubled up and dropped to her knees, gasping for breath.

Destro snarled and rushed her, only to have his legs knocked out from under him as Beachhead foot-swept him from behind. "You're not touching her," Beachhead snapped as Destro landed flat on his back. Growling something in his native language, he sprang back up and attacked Beachhead savagely. Beachhead met his attack full-on and an instant later, all of them were fighting; Zarana having regained her breath and was now fighting Scarlett.

* * *

In his secret command center, the Gamesmaster cackled gleefully, as he watched all six of his players fighting and screaming obscenities at each other. "This is better than Cable TV!" He cried, clapping his hands. So far, things had been going even better than expected. True, his lions had been destroyed, but it didn't matter. Not when what was coming would be much worse.

Speaking of which, it was time for their next surprise. Smiling evilly, he leaned over the console in front of him and pressed a series of buttons. Oh yes, he was having so much fun!

* * *

Meanwhile, the Joes and Cobras had arrived at the old air control tower and immediately shared everything they knew about the Gamesmaster and what their comrades were doing right before they disappeared.

"So let me make sure I've got this right," Hawk said as they finished up. "Right before they vanished, Destro was in the hangar working on a new invention, Zarana was taking a walk in the woods, and Serpentor was outside in the courtyard chewing out Major Bludd."

"Yes," the Baroness told him.

"And Duke was getting in his car, Scarlett was heading for hers, and Beachhead was retrieving his clipboard from the obstacle course," Hawk went on. "So what do they all have in common?"

"Each of them was alone when he or she disappeared," Cobra Commander said.

"If Serpentor was chewing out Major Bludd, then he couldn't have been alone," Gung-Ho pointed out before Hawk could reply.

"And that means that Major Bludd might have seen something!" Roadblock added.

Cobra Commander shook his head. "Serpentor vanished right after he finished chewing out Major Bludd," he explained. "And we already questioned him as well. He didn't hear or see anything."

"He was already inside by the time Serpentor vanished," the Baroness added.

"Damn," Flint muttered.

"So what do we do?" Lady Jaye asked.

"It better be something beside sit here and twiddle our thumbs!" Zartan exclaimed, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Zartan, calm down," Duke told him sternly. The last thing they needed right now was for people to start panicking and snapping at each other.

"No, he's right, Duke," Cover Girl spoke up. "Every minute that goes by is another minute that their lives are in danger. We can't afford to just sit around!" Snake-Eyes nodded vigorously in agreement.

"But what can we do when we don't even know where they are?" Ace exclaimed.

Cover Girl turned to look at him. "We look for them, Ace," she told him firmly.

"What do you want us to do, Cover Girl?" The Baroness asked sarcastically. "Wander aimlessly around the globe forever looking for you boyfriend?" This caused some snickering from some of the Cobras.

"Personally, I can't see what she sees in that blowhard ranger boy anyway!" Mindbender said, laughing.

"Beachhead is not my boyfriend!" She snapped angrily.

Mindbender just shook his head knowingly. "Right," he said sarcastically. By now the Baroness and Zartan were laughing out loud.

Cover Girl glared at him, and clenched her fists. "How dare you, Mindbender, you overgrown…"

"_Silence_!" Hawk bellowed over all their voices. "We did not come here to argue and fight!" He went on. "Now whether or not Cover Girl likes Beachhead or not, that's her business." Cover Girl gave him a grateful look as he went on. "And furthermore, it's way beside the point. We came here to find our missing comrades, and that's what we're going to do!"

"Hawk is right," Cobra Commander said. "Now, does anyone have any suggestions on where to go from here?"

Snake-Eyes raised his hand to get his attention and then signed, *The Gamesmaster used a small remote island as his base the last time, right?* Flint nodded and he went on. *So we split up and do reconnaissance flights over different parts of the globe looking for spots that he might be.*

Cobra Commander looked at Hawk. "What did he say?"

Hawk translated for those who didn't know sign language. "That's an excellent idea, Snake-Eyes," he finished. All around the room, heads were nodding in agreement.

"So let's get to it," Zartan said. Hawk looked at Cobra Commander and they both nodded.

They spent the next hour making arrangement and deciding on teams. Surprisingly, there was very little bickering and arguing. And once the arrangements and teams were set, everyone set out except for Hawk and Cobra Commander who were staying behind to monitor and keep track of everyone.

Finally, Snake-eyes felt that they were on their way to finding Scarlett. _Hang on, love, _he thought. _I'm_ _coming_!

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**A/N:** So what did you think? I know this is short but I wanted to get a chapter out since it's been awhile. Anyway, I'm thinking about having Zarana have a crush on Serpentor. Should I or would it be too OOC for her? Anyway, please review on your way out!

_**Special Author's Note:**_ I am going to finish this story, but I don't know if I will do any further G.I. Joe stories. I love G.I. Joe and writing stories about them, but I'm dissapointed in the lack of feedback. Chapter 1 got 10 reviews and now I'm down to 1 or 2 for each chapter and that's not encouraging or motivating for any author! I don't know if people like, hate, or are even reading the story. I may do another story if I start receiving feedback for this one starting with this chapter.


	7. Chapter 7: More Surprises

**The Return of the Gamesmaster**

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing but the plot.

**A/N:** I apologize for the delay. Real life and a little writer's block got in the way. But it's better now. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter and please leave a review on your way out.

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Chapter 7: More Surprises

"You egotistical son of a bitch!" Duke hissed as he fought Serpentor. Nearby, Destro and Beachhead were going at it, and so were Scarlett and Zarana. They were cussing and name-calling their opponents.

Just as Duke blocked a particularly nasty blow from Serpentor, a loud roaring came from above them.

"What the hell was that?" Beachhead asked breathlessly, evading a kick from Destro.

Both Scarlett and Zarana had stopped fighting and were looking up. "I can't see anything!" Zarana yelled.

"Well, that didn't just come from out of thin air!" Serpentor exclaimed, stepping back from Duke and looking up into the sky.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Destro said, coming to stand next to Serpentor.

Just then it came again, louder this time. Zarana shrieked and rushed to Serpentor.

"What the bloody blue blazes is that?" Duke wanted to know.

"I don't know, but whatever it is, it's getting closer!" Scarlett replied.

"Run!" Zarana screamed.

Serpentor looked at her incredulously. Was she for real? "Run to where?" he replied. "We don't know where it's coming from or even what it is."

"And that means we could end up running right to it," Beachhead added.

"Which would most likely mean disaster for us," Destro put in.

Serpentor just shook his head. Here he was in the middle of who knew where, and the greatest asset of everyone with him was stating the obvious! "We have to find out what it is," he said firmly.

Just as he finished speaking, a very large black shadow passed quickly over them as the roar sounded again. Only this time, there was more than one, and they sounded almost on top of them.

Zarana screamed again as Beachhead looked around wildly. Their fight was forgotten. Scarlett shook her head and shivered. The roars sounded like they were right out of a movie. She looked up and couldn't believe what she saw. In the sky above, three dragons were circling the entire area where they were.

"Dragons?!" Scarlett exclaimed. "How can this be?"

"I have no fucking idea," Duke answered.

Beachhead shook his head. "This just keeps getting better and better," he muttered sarcastically.

"If only I had my laser pistol," Serpentor growled.

Beachhead whirled to face him, disbelief in his eyes. "Do you see the size of those creatures?" he asked Serpentor. "That would be like putting a band-aid on a broken leg!"

Serpentor shook his head. "Wrong," he replied. "A well-aimed shot in the right place is all you need."

Scarlett snorted. "Like anyone could make such a shot at this range," she said.

Serpentor narrowed his eyes at her. "Do not underestimate me, woman," he snapped.

Scarlett glared back at him. "Is that a threat?" She wanted to know. Anyone who knew her knew that it was not a good idea to threaten her.

Serpentor merely shrugged. "Call it whatever you wish," he replied, his voice indifferent.

"Take cover!" Destro screamed suddenly, pointing up. They all looked, and to their horror, they saw that one of the dragons was diving towards them!

It roared again, and at the same time, a jet of fire streamed from its mouth in their direction. There were shrieks as all six dove for cover, evading the fire by a slim margin.

"We're sitting ducks here!" Duke exclaimed.

"What are we going to do?" Zarana wailed. "With no weapons or aircraft, we can't fight them or anything!"

"We have to run, and stay by cover while we're running!" Duke told her.

"He's right!" Destro put in. "We have to find a cave or something that we can take shelter in so we can plan our next move!"

Serpentor jumped out of his hiding place. "Come on!" He yelled. He took off running and the others followed him, ducking and weaving to avoid the flames being shot at them by the diving dragons.

They kept running for what seemed like forever, talking only when necessary and occasionally ducking behind cover to catch their breaths. After diving and rolling to avoid the umpteenth stream of fire, Zarana had had enough. "Serpentor, we can't keep this up much longer!" She yelled, panting. Like the others, her hair was a mess and she was dirty, sweaty, and hungry.

"She's right, Duke!" Scarlett agreed, breathing hard.

"Over there!" Destro spoke up, pointing ahead of them to their right. They all looked to where he was pointing and saw a narrow opening in a hill about half a mile away.

"Let's go!" Beachhead yelled, turning and heading straight for it.

"Thank God," Duke murmured quietly as he followed Beachhead. A few minutes later they reached the opening and dove inside, narrowly missing a powerful stream of fire.

Once inside, they went about fifteen feel and collapsed on the ground, which was hard-packed dirt. Nobody said a word for over ten minutes as they just laid there, catching their breath and resting.

Finally Scarlett propped her head up on her elbow and looked at the others. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm in no hurry to do that again," she said tiredly.

"That makes two of us," Duke told her. "Plus I'm starving."

"So am I," Serpentor spoke up. "We need to go outside and see if we can find some food nearby."

"We can't do that, Your Excellency," Destro told him regretfully. He winced as Serpentor glared angrily at him, but went on. "Those dragons are still out there. You can hear them roaring."

"Destro's right," Beachhead put in. "And on top of that, it's getting dark." He was right. Dusk had being starting to fall when Destro had spotted the opening of the cave that they were presently in.

"Then let's explore the cave," Zarana spoke up. "Maybe there's something to eat in here somewhere."

Beachhead snorted and Scarlett turned to her. "Not likely, but even if there is, how would we find it? It's pitch black in here and we have no light sources at all," she told the other woman.

"We'll make torches," Zarana replied without missing a beat. She jumped to her feet and went to the opening, ignoring the warnings from the others. Looking around, she dashed outside.

"What is she doing?" Beachhead asked in shock. "Trying to get herself killed?"

"Well, she's not exactly the smartest woman on the planet," Scarlet told him.

"And you are?" Serpentor asked her, shaking his head.

"No, but I know enough not to go charging right into the arms of a bunch of fire-breathing dragons," she retorted.

"Technically, dragons don't have arms," Destro put in.

Scarlett gave him a dirty look. "It was a metaphor, you moron," she replied.

Before Destro could answer her, Zarana rushed back in, carrying a bunch of branches in her arms. "Those dragons are still out there," she said breathlessly as she dropped the branches by Serpentor. "Anyway, all we have to do is get them lit and we'll have light!"

"And just how do you propose to do that?" Serpentor demanded.

"By rubbing them together," she answered him, unfazed.

Beachhead groaned. "That would take forever," he told her.

Zarana glared at him. "Have you got a better idea?"

Beachhead was silent as he thought. But try as he might, he couldn't think of one. Not without going outside and risk getting burned to a crisp by the dragons. "No," he admitted.

"Then come on!" She cried, picking up two of the branches and beginning to rub them together. "Let's get to it! The sooner we have light, the sooner we can explore this place!"

_And maybe find some food, however unlikely_, Serpentor thought, picking up two more of the branches. The others followed suit.

Moments later, they were all rubbing branches together. It seemed to take forever, but finally Destro managed to get his lit. Then they all breathed a sigh of relief.

"Finally," Scarlett said as they all lit theirs off of his. Then she looked around. So, are you all ready?"

"Yes," Duke answered. Beachhead, Destro, and Zarana nodded in agreement.

"I am, but I'm not going first," Serpentor said firmly. No way was he going to be the one to trigger any traps or walk into any natural hazards first. The Joes could do that. He was too important.

"Why, you scared?" Beachhead couldn't resist taunting him.

Serpentor shot him a death glare. "No you moron!" He snapped. "I'm just not stupid enough to just walking blindly through a cave not knowing what's ahead of me!"

"That qualifies at stupid," Beachhead muttered.

"Enough!" Duke broke in. The last thing they had time for was more squabbling. "I'll go first."

"Then I'll go second," Serpentor announced. "Come on." He turned and faced opposite the entrance. A moment later Duke took the lead and torched held high, they all headed deeper into the cave, not knowing what to expect but ready for anything.

In his secret control room, the Gamesmaster watched them head deeper into the cave on the screen and smiled smugly. Then he reached forward a pressed another series of buttons on his keyboard.

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**A/N:** So what did you think? Is another surprise in store for the weary and hungry group? Will they ever be found? Stay tuned to find out and please REVIEW! I would really love to know what you think! :)

**BTW**, I know this is a little short, but like I said before, it's been awhile and I wanted to get something out. The next chapter will be longer.


	8. Chapter 8: Things get Batty

**The Return of the Gamesmaster**

**Disclaimer: **same as before.

**A/N:** I am so sorry for the delay. My computer was broke, but now it's fixed. And here's chapter 8. I hope you like and please review on your way out.

**

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Chapter 8: Things get Batty

"Man, this is like looking for a needle in a haystack!" Ace complained after several hours of reconnaissance flying.

"Ace is right, we're never going to find them like this," Roadblock agreed.

"We gotta keep at it!" Zartan insisted.

"Zartan's right," Flint said. "We can't quit now!'

"Who said anything about quitting?" Ace asked.

"Yeah, we just need some clues!" Gung-Ho put in. He was sick of this wild goose chase. He was ready to stop the Gamesmaster once and for all!

The Baroness scoffed. "Like clues are just going to drop in on us!" She exclaimed witheringly.

"Okay, enough with the smart-ass remarks, lady!" Roadblock cut in. Throughout their reconnaissance flying, the Baroness had been making one snide comment after another.

Over the radio, they could hear Zartan laughing. "You do know that this is the Baroness you're talking to, don't you?" He asked. "Snide remarks are her forte."

"At least I know how to take a bath, you low life swamp rat!" She shot back angrily.

Ace cracked up. "Zartan doesn't even take baths?" He exclaimed incredulously. Everyone ignored him.

"At least I'm not afraid of a swamp, Baroness!" Zartan retorted. "you won't even step foot in one without running for your life!" He laughed again.

"Why you worthless piece of-" She began, venom in her voice.

"That's enough!" Hawk interrupted her sternly. "This bickering does not help the situation. From now on, I only want to hear mission-related talking." His tone left no room for argument.

"Yes, sir," all the Joes replied in unison.

"Zartan, that goes for you and the Baroness and the rest of our forces as well," Cobra Commander added, his voice stern as well.

The Cobras acknowledged. In the control tower Hawk let out a breath. That was the fifth time he'd had to reprimand everyone for arguing. Something had to happen or everyone was going to go crazy!

"Man, this place is creepy!" Zarana said with a shiver as they walked further into the cave. It was pitch-black, the only light coming from their torches.

Beachhead groaned. "This was your idea, lady. Don't tell me you want to go back already!" He exclaimed, rolling his eyes.

"That's not what I said, you jerk!" Zarana snapped angrily. "Why don't you quit putting words in my mouth!"

"Well, if you did something besides complain all the time-" Beachhead began.

"Shut up, both of you!" Serpentor snapped angrily, cutting him off. "I've heard enough petty bickering to last a lifetime!" Beachhead shot him a nasty look, but it went unnoticed in the darkness.

"I really hate to say this, But I agree with him," Duke whispered to Scarlett.

Scarlett shuddered. "That's a scary though in and of itself," she replied.

"Tell me about it," Duke agreed.

"And I hate to say it, but Zarana's right," she went on. "This place is creepy."

"Not to mentioned dank and stifling," Duke added. "And I think I hear water dripping someplace."

Scarlett listened. Duke was right. Somewhere ahead of them was the steady drip of water. "I hope it's clean enough to drink," she said.

"You and me both," Duke agreed, wetting his parched lips with his tongue.

"Hey, does anyone else hear water dripping?" Destro spoke up from the back.

"I do," Serpentor replied. "Let's head toward it. Maybe it's clean enough to drink."

"Serpentor's right," Scarlett said, making Beachhead gasp.

"You seriously can't be agreeing with Serpentor!" He exclaimed.

Scarlett stopped and turned to face him. everyone else stopped as well. "Look, like it or not, we're all in this together, and right now we all need water to drink and food to eat. And that means he was right. Now swallow your pride and help us look for some," she told him sternly.

"And before you start grumbling or complaining, that's an order," Duke added in his commander voice.

"Yes, sir," Beachhead replied. Scarlett turned back around and they started moving again.

"You know," Serpentor said to her after a minute, grinning softly. "Your pretty smart for a Joe. Not to mention beautiful and tough. We could make a good team, you and I."

Scarlett made a gagging noise. "Me, join Cobra? You've got to be kidding!"

"Hey, don't be too quick to shoot it down," Serpentor told her. "No one could stop the two of us together," He lowered his voice so only she could hear. "We could rule the world side by side." He took her hand and kissed it gently, even as she recoiled in disgust. "What do you say? Want to be my queen?"

Scarlett was trying not to throw up. "Over my dead body!" She snapped, moving away from him.

"You're completely insane!" Beachhead yelled disgustedly at him. Serpentor just grinned at him.

Duke had his fists clenched. "I can't believe that maniac just hit on you!" He exclaimed softly. "I just want to throttle him!"

Scarlett shivered. "Tell me about it. My hand feels totally gross!"

"Well then, let's find that water so you can wash it off," Duke told her.

Scarlett shivered again. "The sooner, the better!" Serpentor's touch made her skin crawl and she was eager to wash it off!

Meanwhile, Destro was staring incredulously at Serpentor, hardly believing what he's just heard. What the hell had gotten into their Emperor, hitting on Scarlett like that? Head he completely lost his mind or was this his idea of a game? He looked at Zarana and saw the same shock on her face. They both shrugged and kept silent, knowing that now was not the time to talk about it.

In his control center, the Gamesmaster laughed out loud as he watched his players in the cave. "This is priceless!" He exclaimed after Serpentor had hit on Scarlett. "I almost wish this didn't have to end, but what comes next will be even more fun!" He pressed a button on his keyboard and leaned forward. Things were going to get really batty now!

Several minutes passed as they continued to walk deeper into the cave. Then suddenly, Destro stopped short, causing Beachhead, who was behind him, to almost run into him.

"What the hell are you doing?" The Joe ranger exclaimed in annoyance.

"Quiet," Destro hissed. "I hear something."

Beachhead listen for a moment. "You must be imaging things. I don't hear anything," he told Destro.

"Neither do I," Scarlett spoke up.

Serpentor looked at Destro. "I think this cave is getting to you, Destro. I hear nothing but silence." His tone was a little exasperated.

"No, he's right," Duke spoke up before Destro could reply. "I hear it too. It's kind of a weird chittering noise."

"I hear flapping sounds too," Zarana put in.

Now Beachhead and the others could hear it as well. The sounds were soft, but definitely there. "What's making them?" he asked.

"I don't think I want to know," Scarlett told him, shivering slightly.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you," Serpentor told her, leering at her. Her reply was an obscene hand gesture at him.

Serpentor was instantly pissed. "How dare you!" He began with a growl, stepping to her menacingly.

"Uh, guys, you might want to look up," Beachhead spoke up then, interrupting Serpentor's tirade.

"Now what?" Serpentor asked and stopped. He looked up automatically with the others. As soon as he saw what Beachhead was talking about, he gasped. "What the hell are those?" He asked, bewildered.

"I have no idea," Duke answered. On or near the ceiling, what looked like dozens of glowing yellow lights the size of marbles has suddenly appeared.

"Okay, I am getting seriously creeped out here," Zarana spoke up. The chittering and flapping sounds were still there as well, but now they sounded much closer.

Destro held his torch up as high as he could, trying to illuminate whatever was above them. Just then, several pairs of the lights sunk rapidly down toward them before rising again. Zarana yelped and ducked. Duke ducked as well. More pairs of light followed in the same time, but this time Serpentor was ready. As the lights neared him, he held out his torch to them, illuminating several crow-sized, black, winged creatures.

"What the hell?" Beachhead began.

"Bats!" Zarana shrieked at the same time.

"Where did they come from?" Destro asked, ducking as more of the creatures swooped down on them.

"Who cares! Just run!" Serpentor shouted. All six of them began running, covering their heads as they did. For several minutes all of them ran through the cave, trying to outdistance the bats, who along with swooping and diving, blew some kind of gas or fumes from their mouths at them. No one knew exactly what it was, and had no interest in stopping to find out.

Then their silence was broken by Destro's voice. "Has anyone else noticed that we're now running through water?" He asked as he ran.

"Actually, now that you mention it, yeah," Duke replied. The others glanced down. Sure enough, there was about four inches of water on the ground. It was slowly flowing in the same direction as they were heading.

"Oh, great!" Scarlett exclaimed. "Now we're going to be wet on top of everything else."

"There's more pressing concerns about it than getting wet," Serpentor informed her. "Such as is it rising? And where is it coming from?"

"I don't think it's rising," Beachhead said.

"Well, we need to keep an eye on it and make sure that it doesn't," Serpentor informed him. Because if it is, we have drowning and running out of air to worry about as well as those bats." His words were sobering.

They kept running, ducking the bats and evading their oral ejections. Then It was Duke who spoke up. "Guys, we are in real trouble here," he announced. "The water is rising. It's over a foot high now and flowing faster."

"Oh, that's just lovely," Serpentor replied, shaking his head. "Okay, we need to find a side tunnel of something before it gets too high."

"Uh, that's going to have to be quickly because it's rising fast," Zarana pointed out.

"She's right," Duke said. "I can see it rising. At this rate it'll be over our head in only a few minutes."

"Pick up the pace!" Serpentor yelled.

Just then, they heard a loud whooshing sound behind them. Turning around, they saw that the bats had vanished. But what was there was much worse. A five-foot high wave of water was bearing down on them!

"Look out!" Destro yelled as Zarana screamed in terror.

"Let's get out of here!" Beachhead exclaimed.

"There's nowhere to go, you simpleton!" Serpentor snapped.

"There's no time anyway!" Duke yelled. "Everyone, grab onto each other and hold on!" The words were barely out of his mouth when the wave engulfed them, breaking as it did so. All they could do was hold on tightly to each other as they were carried away by the rushing water, and try to keep their heads above and pray that it did not fill up the cave completely.

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**A/N:** So what did you think? Getting intense, huh? Will they make it out alive or will they die in the cave? Will there be something sticky waiting for them if they get out? Will the others ever find them? Stay tuned to find out and please Review!


	9. Chapter 9: Some Progress

**The Return of the Gamesmaster**

**Disclaimer: **Same as before.

**A/N:** I am so sorry for the long wait. I was on vacation and then had a huge case of writer's block. But I'm back now with the next chapter. I hope you like and please review on you way out!

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** Chapter 9: Some Progress**

All six of them clung tightly to each other as they were carried along by the wave at high speed. Everything was a blur as they rushed around corners, going uphill and down. It was all they could do to avoid smashing their heads against the sides or ceiling of the tunnels they were carried through.

After what seemed like forever, they turned a corner and saw a light in the tunnel up ahead.

"What's that light up there?" Beachhead yelled over the roar of the water.

"A way out, hopefully!' Duke shouted back.

"It makes sense," Destro put in. All this water has to go somewhere!"

"But what if it's worse than this?" Zarana asked.

"We don't have a choice!" Serpentor snapped back. "We're going to it whether we want to or not! Hang on!"

They were nearly to the light now and Duke, who was in the lead, could see that it did indeed, lead outside. But there was a problem. "Everyone, get ready for a long drop!" He called back.

"How long?" Zarana shouted.

"At least forty feet!" Duke replied. "Everyone, hang on to each other!" Even though they were already doing that, they all tightened their grips as they reached the light and exited the cave, dropping over forty feet in the waterfall to land in a deep pool below.

They hit the water hard and sank down far, losing their grips on each other. As he struggled for the surface, Duke wondered why it seemed hard to gain much ground. Then he realized it must be because he was so tired, he gritted his teeth and pushed harder. Finally, he broke the surface and started gasping for air. Near him, the others were doing the same thing.

"We need to get to shore," Scarlett panted.

"I'm too tired," Zarana replied.

Serpentor gave her a withering look. "You have too!" He told her.

"If you don't want to die," Beachhead added.

Come on," Destro urged her. He took her hand and strted swimming for the shore. The other did the same.

"Okay, does anyone else think this water is weird?" Scarlett asked when they were almost there.

"It seemed like it was harder than usual to get to the surface," Duke answered.

"You're just weird," Zarana told her, giggling.

"No, I think she's got a point," Serpentor spoke up. He ran his hand through the water and then smelled it. "This isn't water, it's clear Hawaiian Punch!"

"Ew, we're going to be all sticky!" Zarana exclaimed in disgust.

"That's the least of our problems, lady!" Beachhead shot back.

Scarlett giggled as she thought of something. "Do you think Destro will have to sand his face?" She asked.

Destro shot her a dirty look. "Very funny, you dork," he retorted.

"Will everyone shut up and get to shore!" Serpentor broke in, sounding irritated.

"Yes, your Evilness!" Duke quipped. Scarlett laughed.

Serpentor glared at her. "Do you find this funny?"

She shook her head. "No, just Duke's-"

"Then shut up and get to shore!" He snapped angrily, cutting her off.

Beachhead was about to snap back at him, but was stopped by Duke's hand on his shoulder. Wordlessly, they all reached shore and collapsed on the ground.

"Is everyone okay?" Duke asked after a minute.

"I am," Beachhead replied.

"Nothing is broken," Scarlett said.

"Other than a splitting headache, yes," Serpentor put in. The others also voiced affirmatives. It seemed like they were pretty lucky. Other than some minor scrapes and bruises, and a couple of headaches, they were fine. Just dirty, exhausted, hungry, and sticky.

"Hey, look!' Zarana shouted suddenly. She pointed to he right. "Apples!"

The all looked. Sure enough, a tree about fifty feet to their right had apples growing from it. Lots of apples.

Destro hurried over, followed by everyone else. He looked at one closely and then snorted. "They're _candied_ apples!" He said witheringly.

"So, it's food," Serpentor retorted. He grabbed one and took a bite. The others did likewise, even Destro. A moment later, they were gobbling them down as fast as they could.

In the cockpit of his Skystriker, Ace was getting more and more frustrated. They'd been searching for hours with no results. "This is ridiculous!" He burst out, banging his hand on the console. "They couldn't have just dropped off the face of the Earth!"

"I agree," Roadblock replied. "There's got to be something that we're missing!"

"Yeah, but what?" Mutt asked.

"Your brain!" The Baroness cracked.

"Not funny, Baroness," Gung-Ho snapped back angrily. He, like probably everyone else, was very sick of her snide and rude comments.

"Don't worry, Gung-Ho," Mutt assured him. "She doesn't know better."

"Why you little-" The Baroness began furiously.

"You guys, I got it!" Torch exclaimed suddenly, cutting her off.

"Huh?" Ripper asked, sounding confused.

"Got what?" Buzzer added.

"Why we're not finding the island!" He replied excitedly.

Gung-Ho snorted. "This I have to hear!" He said incredulously. Torch and anything intelligent didn't exactly go together.

The Baroness laughed. "OH do please enlighten us, Torch!" She said. I could use a good laugh!"

"Hey!" Torch protested indignantly. "I'm not as dumb as I look, you know!"

"We know," Zartan assured him. "The Baroness just likes to run her mouth. Now, why do you think we're not finding the island?"

"Because the island is probably cloaked!" He exclaimed.

"That's ridiculous!" Gung-Ho replied. "How would you cloak an entire island?"

"I don't know," Lady Jaye replied. "But how did he kidnap six top Joe and Cobra agents without leaving a trace or anyone seeing anything?

"We haven't figured that out yet," Barbecue told her.

"Exactly," Lady Jaye said. "And if he can do that, it's safe to assume he can cloak a whole island as well."

"Point taken," Gung-Ho said, sighing.

"Which brings up our next problem," Ace spoke up. "If it's cloaked, how do we find it?"

"With a decloaker!" Torch put in. "Does something like that even exist?" Barbecue wondered.

"How should I know?" Torch replied. "I don't know everything!"

"No, but you did very well," Zartan told him. "That was a very valid assumption, Torch."

"Huh, what does that mean?" Ripper asked him, sounding lost.

"It means it was a very good idea, peabrain!" Roadblock retorted. The last thing they had time for was explaining stuff to the intellectually-challenged Dreadnoks.

"Okay everyone, calm down," Hawk spoke up over the radio. "And yes, Barbecue, decloakers do exist."

"They're not decloakers per se," Mainframe added. "They're devices that detect cloaking shields."

"But can they shut them down, too?" Roadblock wanted to know.

"I don't think so, but it's irrelevant," Mainframe replied. "Cloaking sheilds aren't force fields. They don't stop you from getting in or out."

"Well, let's get some decloakers and get moving then!" Ace cried. A bunch of voices sounded agreement.

"I'm talking to General Flagg now," Hawk replied. "Hang on." He went off the frequency for several minutes. "Good news," He said as soon as he was back. "General Flagg is dispatching several squads of helicopters equipped with decloakers as we speak. If the island's cloaked, we'll find in no time!"

"Yeah! Way to go, Man!" Roadblock exclaimed.

"Hang on guys, we're coming!" Cover Girl added.

As others voiced they own exclamations and agreements, Snake-Eyes felt his heart start to race as new hope filled him. _Very soon now, Red, you'll be back in my arms, and this Gamemaster creep will be behind bars_, he thought with determination.

A little later, after they had all eaten their share of apples and berries that Scarlett had found, and had drunk some of the clear punch from the lake where they had landed, they were all stretched out of the ground, resting.

"Man, apples never tasted so good before," Beachhead said after several minutes of silence.

"I hear ya," Duke replied.

Destro sat up. "I wonder what's next?" He asked.

Serpentor propped himself up on his elbow and looked at him in confusion. "Huh?"

"Ever since we arrived, the Gamesmaster has always been throwing things at us and I was just wondering what's next," he explained.

Serpentor nodded in understanding. "Oh," he said.

"It won't be anything good, that I'm sure of," Duke spoke up.

"Duke's right," Beachhead put in. "We should get some sleep while we can."

"But what if we're attacked or something while we're asleep?" Zarana asked anxiously.

Serpentor pointed to an area just off to their right. "We'll sleep in there, under the overhang of those honeysuckle bushes and trees. We should be safe there," he said firmly.

"What if we're not?" Zarana pressed.

"Then stay up and keep watch," Beachhead told her impatiently, getting up. "The rest of us are going to get some sleep while we can."

The others, including Zarana, got up as well and headed over to the overhang and settled down to get some sleep.

But they weren't asleep for more than forty minutes before they were jolted awake by a loud clanging.

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**A/N:** So what did you think? Will the decloakers work? Will Snake-Eyes and Scarlett get reunited? What has the Gamesmaster got in surprise for Duke and the others now? Stay tuned to find out and please review!


	10. Chapter 10: Time's Running Out

**The Return of the Gamesmaster**

**Disclaimer:** Same as before.

**A/N:** I am very sorry for the really long delay. Writer's block, time, other stories, and a fried computer are all to blame! But I'm back now and I hope you like this chapter and please review on your way out! Your feedback inspires and motivates me to update faster! Thank you! Now on to the chapter!

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**Chapter 10: Time's Running Out**

"What the hell is that?" Duke cried, sitting bolt upright and covering his ears.

"I don't know, but it's loud enough to wake the living dead!" Scarlett replied, sitting up as well.

"Technically, that's impossible," Destro told her. "If the dead were living, they wouldn't be dead."

"It's an expression, metal head!" Beachhead said witheringly, shaking his head.

Destro glared at him. "I have had enough of your mouth, Ranger boy!" He shot back angrily.

"Shut up, all of you!" Serpentor screamed. "We have more important things to worry about than stupid, childish squabbling!"

Zarana nodded. "He's right," she said. "Like finding out what is making that obnoxious noise!"

"I'm not sure I want to know," Scarlett said with a groan. "It can't be good."

"It's not," Duke agreed. He pointed to the left. "Look!"

They all looked and couldn't believe what they saw. Giant green and yellow robots, at least a dozen of them, were marching toward them, crushing everything underfoot that was in their way.

"They gotta be at least fifty feet tall!" Destro exclaimed. He was right. The looked roughly humanoid, with two arms and legs and a head. They had optical sensors where eyes would be on a human and a narrow rectangular opening for a mouth. They carried guns and glowing lights blinked on their chests. The ground shook with every step they took.

"We are dead meat!" Beachhead announced. There was no way they could fight or outrun those things!

"No, we are not!" Serpentor thundered sharply.

"We'll think of something, Beach!" Duke told him.

Beachhead shook his head. He hated being like this, but he was realistic. "What can we do? We sure can't outrun them, and we can't fight them! And we sure as hell can't hide from them. They're bound to have sensors to detect our body heat even if they can't see us!"

Destro looked at him incredulously. "Don't tell me the Joe ranger boy is just giving up!" He taunted.

"Shut up, Destro!" Beachhead snarled. "You don't know the difference between realism and stupidity!"

"He's right, Destro!" Zarana shrieked. "We're all going to die!"

"They're almost here!" Duke cried.

"Somebody, do something!" Serpentor yelled.

"Wait a minute!" Scarlett broke in as an idea came to her. "If they can sense our body heat, then maybe we can hide it!"

"How the heck can we do that?" Beachhead asked.

She pointed to some trees off to the left that had some weird fruit on it. We start a fire there. They'll be drawn to it, and that'll buy us some time," she replied.

"Time to do what?" Destro wanted to know.

"There's no time to get a fire started!" Zarana shrieked.

"Take cover!" Serpentor cried.

"I don't know!" Scarlett yelled at Destro as they all took off running. Suddenly the robots opened fire from the guns they were carrying. As they all ducked and rolled, trying to avoid the deadly energy blasts, she realized that Zarana was right. They had no time to set the trees on fire! Their only hope was a miracle!

"Everyone, we found the island!" General Hawk's excited voice boomed from the speaker, startling Lady Jaye so much that she almost jumped out of her seat. After all this fruitless searching, she had been just flying and not concentrating on anything. But now she sat up straight and reached for the radio.

"Where? Where is it?" She shouted back.

"Finally!" Gung-Ho exclaimed.

"Where's my sister?" Zartan cried.

"Calm down, everyone," Hawk said. "It's a small island in the South Pacific, south of New Zealand."

_Thank god_, Snake-eyes thought in relief. _Now we can get them back_. He shuddered, thinking about all the gruesome possibilities of Scarlett and the others' conditions. Tears welled up in his eyes under his mask. _Hold on, baby, I'm on my way_!

"What are the coordinates? We need to go now!" Zartan demanded.

"I'm uploading them to your computers now," Hawk answered. "The squad that found it is going to insert itself covertly. Everyone, get going with all haste! I will meet you there. Yo

"Cobra!" Zartan, the Baroness, and the rest of their team added.

On the island, the captives were panting and out of breath from running and evading the giant robots.

"Don't these guys ever quit?" Beachhead asked between pants as he dove out of the way of a blast.

"I don't think so," Destro answered as he dove behind a honeysuckle bush. 'They're robots; they just do whatever they're programmed to do.

"Yeah," Duke said panting. And in this case, that's to kill us!"

"Will you guys shut up and concentrate on finding a way out of this!" Serpentor snapped as he dodged a blast. The maneuver caused him to roll into some bushes.

"I'd like to shut him up permanently," Beachhead muttered to Duke.

"Never mind him," Duke replied. "We have bigger things to worry about!"

"Yeah, like surviving!" Scarlett told them, flipping out of the way of a blast.

"Well, we won't be doing that much longer if someone doesn't do something!" Serpentor screamed as he got to his feet.

"Listen, buster," Scarlett began, getting very pissed off at his attitude. "I don't see you coming up with anything!"

Serpentor's eyes narrowed and his hands balled up into fists at her words. "How dare you speak to-ahhh!" His tirade was interrupted as a blast hit at his feet, sending him flying backward into a tree trunk and then crashing to the ground.

Beachhead snickered. "What a dumbass!" He exclaimed. "Too busy being an egotistical bitch to watch what's going on, even if his life's in danger!"

"Shut up, you fools!" Zarana screamed. "He could be hurt!" She started to run to him, but got knocked back as a blast came her way.

"This is hopeless!" Destro yelled as a blast shredded a tree to his left.

The Skystrikers and Rattlers reached the coordinates of the island in record time, thanks to their engine boosters. But they saw nothing except ocean.

"Did we come all the way out here for nothing?" Ace asked in dismay.

"Where the hell is it?" Zartan demanded.

"One moment," said the naval captain over the radio in one of the F-18s parallel to them. Suddenly the air shimmered and an island about half the size of Rhode Island appeared. It looked tropical, with forests inland and beaches surrounding it. Mixed in the forests were areas of grassy plains with a river running through it.

But what they didn't see on the scanners was signs of human life. "It doesn't look like there are any signs of life down there at all," Lady Jaye said worriedly.

But as they flew closer, Ace saw something that made gasp in horror. "Down there, guys, in the middle of the largest forest, what the hell is that?"

"I have no idea," Gung-Ho replied.

"It looks like a group of some kind of robots," The Baroness spoke up.

"They're too big to be robots," Lady Jaye countered.

"That's what they look like Lady Jaye," Gung-Ho told her.

"And they've got guns! And they're pointing them at something!" Buzzer exclaimed.

"Or someone!" Torch added.

"Or maybe more than one someone," Ace said worriedly.

Lady Jaye gasped. "Do you think it could be our comrades?" She asked nervously.

"Well, let's get down there fast!" Zartan exclaimed. If it was Zarana and the others they were after, there was no telling what had already happened to them! But he knew he had to get to his sister fast!

"Hold it, Zartan," Ace said firmly. "We have to come up with a plan."

"There's no time, flyboy!" Zartan retorted impatiently.

"Zartan's right, they're closing in on whatever it is!" Flint broke in. To their horror, the others saw that he was right.

"We've got to go now!" The Baroness shrieked. "Hold on, Destro, darling, we're coming!" She headed in as fast as her plane would go. The others were right there with her. They all knew that there was no time to lose!

Duke rolled out of the way of a fallen tree. "We can't keep this up much longer, guys!"

"Guys! Serpentor need help!" Zarana exclaimed, pointing at him.

Everyone looked. Sure enough, he lay where he had fallen, moaning and holding his head.

"Oh, no!" Destro cried and started to him. He was stopped by energy blast before he had gone four feet.

"We have to get to him!" Zarana shrieked

"We have to get the hell out of here!" Beachhead corrected her.

"No, we can't leave him!" Zarana cried frantically.

"We can't even get close to him lady!" Beachhead shot back.

"If we run, we might be able to draw them away," Duke pointed out.

"No, we have to save him!" Scarlett broke in. "Destro, I'll distract them and you run and grab him!"

"Good idea!" Destro agreed.

"Scarlett, no! It's too risky!" Duke protested.

She turned to him. "Duke, we don't have a choice," she replied. "He's the Emperor or Cobra and I hate his guts, but as a Joe, we have to try to save him! Destro, get ready!"

"Ready!" He answered.

As Scarlett darted forward with her arms up, Duke felt his heart lurch. If anything happened to her, he didn't know what he'd do!

"Now, Destro!" She shouted, evading a blast.

Destro took off and managed to reach Serpentor and pick him up. But as he neared the others, a blast struck him in the side, sending them both flying.

"No!" Beachhead exclaimed.

"Destro!" Zarana screamed in terror. "Serpentor!" She darted forward from the bush she was hiding behind, tears falling from her eyes.

Scarlett reached Destro, who was groaning and holding his side. She gently moved his hands and pulled back his the top of the uniform he always wore and winced at what she saw. Ugly burns and blistered flesh covered his side where the blast had hit. "Guys, he needs medical attention!" She said urgently. "These are second degree burns! And he may have internal damage beneath them!"

"So does Serpentor!" Zarana added. "He's out cold!" She sounded terrified.

"Uh, that's going to be impossible right now with these giant mechanical monsters after us!" Duke shouted back.

"Staying alive is going to be impossible for all of us for longer than a few minutes if something doesn't happened fast!" Beachhead exclaimed.

Duke, Scarlett, and Zarana looked around at the robots closing in on them in a circle and knew he was right!

"Serpentor's gonna die!" Zarana shrieked in terror, covering his body with hers.

"We're all going to die, Zarana!" Beachhead corrected her. "Unless a miracle happens in the next minute!"

The robots closed in tighter, weapons ready.

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**A/N:** So what did you think? Will they be rescued in time? Are Serpentor and Destro all right? Stay tuned to find out and please review!


	11. Chapter 11: Rescue and Escape

**The Return of the Gamesmaster**

**A/N:** Here's chapter 11. I hope you like and please review on your way out!

* * *

**Chapter 11: Rescue and Escape**

"Help!" Zarana screamed as the robots prepared to fire.

Beachhead snorted. "Like that's going to—" He was cut off as one of the robots' heads suddenly exploded.

"What in the hell?" Duke yelled.

"Now what?" Beachhead asked at the same time.

There was another explosion as something hit a robot's shoulder. Scarlett looked up and gasped. "Don't look now, but we may have just found a way out of all of this!" She exclaimed.

"The cavalry's here!" Beachhead shouted, seeing squads of both Joe and Cobra aircraft along with some military jets as well.

Zarana waved her hands. Down here!"

By this time the robots had shifted focus to the new threat. But they were vastly outnumbered and outgunned. As the exhausted group took cover, the planes blew the robots to bits.

In his command center, the Gamesmaster slammed his fist on the console. "Noooooooo!" He screamed. It wasn't possible! The island was in the middle of nowhere and cloaked! But yet it had not just been found, but was being invaded as well!

He knew there was only one course of action. Standing up so fast his chair fell over; he typed a series of commands into the computer. Then, laughing, he ran for the door. He was going to lose the island, but a lot of people were going to go down with it!

Now that the robots were destroyed, a bunch of planes began to land in a nearby meadow while the others stayed in the air to provide cover. Within moments, Joe and Cobra agents were disembarking and hurrying over.

"Guys!" Ace screamed.

"We're here!" Gung-Ho added.

"Where's the Gamesmaster creep?" Dr. Mindbender wanted to know.

"Zarana, Where are you?" Zartan yelled.

"Zartan!" Zarana screamed. Jumping up, she ran to her brother and threw her arms around him.

Zartan hugged her fiercely, hanging on for several seconds. Then he pulled back and looked at her. She was dirty, banged up, and her clothes had tears in them. "Are you okay?"

She nodded. "Tired and hungry, but alright." she answered. Suddenly she looked scared. "But Serpentor isn't!" She exclaimed.

"What happened? Where is he?" Zartan asked.

She pointed back to where she came from. "Back there."

"Destro!" A panicked voiced cried out then as Zarana led her brother to their injured Emperor. "Oh my darling! Someone help him!" It was the Baroness, and she sounded like she was about to break down.

Nearby, a whole throng of Joes had clustered around Duke, Scarlett, and Beachhead, hugging them, talking all at once, and making sure they were okay.

Suddenly Scarlett spotted someone in a mask watching from a few feet away. She could tell from his body language that he was tense and anxious. In a flash, all her weariness seemed to fade and she disengaged herself from the others and ran to him. "Snake-Eyes!" She exclaimed and threw herself into his waiting arms.

His arms came around her and held her tight. She snuggled closer and rested her head on his shoulder. "I missed you so much," she said softly.

He pulled back enough to sign, *I was so worried about you, sweetheart.* He squeezed her hand, and then went on. *You suddenly vanished and we had no idea where you and the others were and I was afraid something bad had happened to you.*

"Oh, Snake!" She cried and hugged him tight. "Something bad _almost_ did happen to all six of us, but you showed up just in the nick of time!"

He pulled back again. *From the moment you disappeared, we were looking for you. I would never let anything happen to you! I love you so much!*

"I love you too, honey!" She replied and snuggled into him again.

"All right, where's this Gamesmaster jerk?" Wet-Suit's voice rang out angrily.

"Probably in a control room of some sort," Duke replied.

Lady Jaye pulled out a radio and flicked it on. "Ace, do you guys see anything that looks like it could be a control center?"

There was a pause, and then Ace's voice came back. "Affirmative, Lady Jaye. There's a compound about thirty or so miles east of your location."

"We're heading there now!" Gung-Ho added.

"He's very sneaky, so whatever you do; _do not_ let him get away!" Lady Jaye said in a no-nonsense voice.

"He won't, Lady Jaye," Slipstream replied.

Lady Jaye switched off the radio and turned back to the others just in time to hear Duke's angry outburst.

"Scarlett, what the hell is going on?" Lady Jaye turned around and gasped. Her best friend was in Snake-Eyes's arms!

Scarlett jumped, startled, and then turned to face Duke. "We didn't want to say anything because we didn't want to hurt you or anyone else," she explained.

Duke snorted. "That was so noble of you," He replied sarcastically.

"It's true! Scarlett exclaimed, glaring at him.

Duke glared right back. "I don't care if it is or not. As your commanding, officer, I have a right to know about something like this!" He yelled.

"We need help over here, now!" Zarana's panicked voiced yelled then, cutting off the discussion.

"What's wrong, Zarana?" Lifeline asked her.

"It's Serpentor!" She shrieked. "He won't wake up! He's hurt bad!"

"Zarana, just calm down and let me take a look," Lifeline told her, familiar with her dramatics.

"What about Destro?" The Baroness demanded. "He's hurt too!"

"Not near as bad as Serpentor!" Zarana retorted.

"Everybody, calm down," Lifeline said loudly. "I'll look at Destro in a few minutes, Zarana."

"Where's Doc?' Beachhead spoke up.

"He's back at Headquarters, making sure the infirmary is ready," Flint replied.

"And we're going to need it," Lifeline told him.

"What's wrong, Lifeline?" Duke asked him.

"It's Serpentor. He's got a concussion, some bruised ribs, maybe even cracked ribs, and possibly more internal injuries. Without the proper equipment, I can't tell the specifics. But I can tell everyone that he needs medical care now!"

Zarana gasped. "He's not going to die, is he?"

"No, he can't!" Dr. Mindbender exclaimed, speaking for the first time.

"Guys, calm down," Lifeline said. "I honestly don't think it's that bad. But we need to get him to a hospital immediately."

"Destro, too," The Baroness added.

Suddenly, there was a loud rumbling accompanied but the ground shaking.

"What the hell?" Gung-Ho exclaimed, trying to stay upright.

"It's an earthquake!" Bazooka told him.

"I don't think so!" Beachhead spoke up as the rumbling and shaking stopped.

"Then what is it, Ranger?" Zartan growled, and then cried out as it started again.

"Son of a bitch!" Duke swore.

"The whole island's going up! We need to get away now!" Beachhead shouted.

"How the heck could that be possible?" Major Bludd asked.

"How do you know, Beach?" Scarlett asked him.

"The rumbling came from a different direction each time!" He shouted back. Just then, the ground shook, harder this time, and no one missed the sound of an explosion somewhere nearby.

"Son of a bitch, he's right!" Mindbender exclaimed.

"Let's get out of here!" Lady Jaye yelled.

"What about Serpentor and Destro?" Zarana screamed. "They need medical attention!"

"There is none on an exploding island!" Beachhead exclaimed."

"He's right!" Flint yelled. "Come on!"

They all scrambled around, those who were sitting or lying getting up. Roadblock picked up Serpentor and Gung-Ho grabbed Destro. "The whole island's going up!" Lady Jaye yelled into her radio. "We need picked up now!"

"Copy, Lady Jaye!" Slipstream replied. "Ace has zeroed in on the Gamesmaster. Airborne and Wild Bill went with him. The rest of us are coming!"

"Hurry, we won't all fit into the planes that are on the ground and we need the rescue chopper! We have injured."

"Roger! We'll be there in moments!" Slipstream replied.

Lady Jaye switched off her radio. "Let's go! Back to where we landed!" She took off running, the others following.

The Gamesmaster was nearly to his secret transport when it suddenly exploded in front of him. He was thrown to the ground by the blast and when he picked himself up, there was two planes landing on either side of him.

"No!" He yelled, and started to run back the way he had come. But before he'd taken three steps, another plane swooped low to cut him off. Panicking, he looked all around, but all avenues of escape were cut off by the landed planes or ones hovering only feet off the ground.

"It's over, Gamesmaster!" A voice boomed in front of him, as the canopies of the planes on the ground opened. The pilots jumped out, brandishing weapons and pointing them at him.

But the Gamesmaster had one last trick up his sleeve. Quick as lightening, he pulled a remote control out of his pocket. "It's not over yet!" He cackled and started pushing buttons, which would activate the hidden automatic lasers all over the island.

But before he had pushed three, the pilot in front of him fired his weapon and the remote exploded in his hand. He screamed and jumped back, grabbing at his arm, which had many small cuts from shrapnel.

Then a hand grabbed his shoulder. The big man spun and came face-to-face with a gun pointed at him! "Get those hands up now!" The man holding the gun ordered. Another man grabbed him before he could comply and locked his hands in restraints.

An explosion shook the ground all around them. "Come on! We have to go now!" Yelled the man who had restrained him. He and another man hurried him to one of the planes and forced him into it and quickly strapped in. Moments later, they were back in their planes as well and seconds after that they were lifting off as another explosion sounded.

The others had reached the clearing where the other planes were and hurried to secure Destro and Serpentor in the rescue chopper. Lifeline hopped in along with Zarana, Zartan, Zandar, Duke, and the Baroness as the other hurried aboard the planes.

"Let's go!" Lady Jaye screamed as an explosion very near shook the ground and the aircraft that hadn't lifted off.

"Ace and the others have the Gamesmaster!" Slipstream announced over the radio.

They all wanted to cheer, but there was no time! They frantically prepared for liftoff and finally got the planes and chopper airborne. It wasn't a moment too soon as the strongest explosion yet went off, buckling the ground and uprooting trees as bits of ground and trees were thrown in the air as flames shot up out the ground not more than fifty yards away.

"The whole island's going! We have to get out of here!" Gung-Ho yelled over the radio.

"We're going! We're going!" Ace replied. And just as they reached cruising altitude the island exploded in a powerful and blinding fireball that seemed to shake the heavens. The aircraft were peppered with debris, but with only minor damages as they quickly accelerated up and out of range.

On then, did they breathe a sigh of relief. They had made it.

* * *

**A/N:** What did you think? Only one more chapter to go! Will Serpentor and Destro be okay? What will happen to the Gamesmaster? Stay tuned to find out and please leave a review! Authors love feedback!


	12. Chapter 12

**Return of the Gamesmaster**

**Disclaimer:** Same as before.

**A/N:** Well, this is the last chapter! It took a while but I got there! I hope you like it and please review!

* * *

**Chapter 12: Epilogue**

"Man, I will never take hot showers for granted again!' Duke announced, entering the crowded room of the hidden military hospital where Serpentor and Destro were patients. A day and a half had passed since they were rescued from the island.

"I know exactly what you mean, Duke," Scarlett replied from where she sat next to Snake-Eyes on what looked to be a very uncomfortable couch. "You never realize how good one truly feels until you're someplace where you can't take one." Snake-Eyes squeezed her hand. She yawned. "Now all I want to do is sleep at least two days."

"You and me both," Duke said.

"How can you two talk about sleep at a time like this?" The Baroness asked incredulously from where she sat next to Destro's bed, holding his hand. Destro was asleep. He had second degree burns on his side, minor internal damage, and a bruised pelvis on that side. But he would make a full recovery within a few weeks.

Serpentor's injuries on the other hand, were more serious. He had a concussion, bruised ribs, two cracked ribs, damage to his spleen, and a sprained right wrist. He had already underwent surgery to repair his spleen, but had been kept sedated for the last several hours to help his concussion heal. Both of them also had minor bumps, bruises, and scrapes as well. But so did the other former captives.

"Hey, he's going to be just fine, Baroness," Scarlett told her.

"She nodded. "I know," she replied. "But still…" her voice trailed off and she shuddered, probably thinking about what could have happened.

"I just hope Serpentor will be," Dr. Mindbender spoke up quietly from next to the other bed. There was worry in his voice.

"I think he will be," Lifeline answered. "It just may take more time."

"I just wish he would wake up," Zarana said from where she sat in between her brothers on another uncomfortable looking couch.

"The sedation is helping the swelling in his brain go down," Doc reminder her. He had flown in as soon as he had heard about the rescue and the injured men.

"He'll be all right, sis," Zartan assured her, in a tone that was softer than any of the Joes had heard from him before. Zandar put his arm around her reassuringly.

"I hope so," she whispered. "Seeing him smash into that tree and not get up was scary." There was a slight quiver in her voice.

Scarlett was surprised. It seemed like Zarana had feeling for Serpentor! Some of her actions on the island made more sense if she did!

"It sounds like you like him, Zarana," Ace spoke up.

She quickly shook her head. "I do not!" She answered. But the blush on her cheeks said otherwise.

"There's nothing wrong with it, Zarana," Scarlett told her.

Duke looked at her in shock. There was plenty wrong with it, starting with the fact that he was an egotistical, maniacal megalomaniac, followed with much more!

"Scarlett's right," Zartan said. "If you like him, then tell him how you feel when he wakes up."

Duke couldn't help it. He guffawed. The thought of Serpentor's reaction to that was hilarious! Apparently he wasn't the only one. Several other Joes were laughing as well.

"It's not funny, you morons!" Zartan snapped angrily.

"It's the thought of Serpentor's reaction that's funny!" Gung-Ho replied.

Zartan shot to his feet. "You little…" He began.

"Calm yourself, brother," Zandar cut him off. "Ignore them. This is not the place for fighting."

"Yeah, you're right," He said, and sat back down.

"Hey, to change the subject, what happened to the Gamesmaster?" Lady Jaye wanted to know.

"He's in federal custody right now, awaiting trial," Duke answered. "He'll be in prison a long time if he's found guilty."

"He is guilty!" Beachhead exclaimed.

"We all know that, but since he wouldn't confess, it'll go to trial," Duke replied.

"What a waste of taxpayer money," Ace grumbled.

"I know, Scarlett agreed. Snake-Eyes nodded.

"But what can we do?" Flint asked. "Anyway, I'm going to grab something to eat. Anyone want to join me?"

A bunch of people did so they all left together. The rest of the afternoon and early evening was quiet. A lot of people left for a while and the patients slept. The Baroness remained by Destro's side, though. Suddenly he groaned. She squeezed his hand. "Ugh, it feels like I've run over by a truck," he moaned.

"Not quite," she told him. "But pretty close from what I've heard. She kissed his cheek.

He reached up and stroked her hair. "I thought of nothing but you while I was on that island," he whispered. "How worried and scared you must have been."

She opened her mouth to reply, but seeing him with the bandages on his side and looking so tired and weak and thinking about what could have happened suddenly overwhelmed her. She began to shake as tears spilled down her cheeks.

"Oh sweetheart, don't cry!" Destro said. "I'm going to be okay. Everything's going to be fine."

"Oh Darling!" She cried and snuggled up next to him on his good side. "But you might not have been! What if…"

"Shhh," he cut her off, stroking her hair. "It'll take a lot more that what that freak did to us to get rid of me. You're just going to have to get used to the fact that you're stuck with me!"

"That's the best thing I've ever heard, Destro!" She exclaimed. She pulled away enough to look into his eyes. "Destro, I know I haven't always shown it, and I've often taken you for granted, but I love you with all my heart. These last few days have opened my eyes to a lot, and I'll never do it again!" She kissed him gently.

"Oh, my beautiful Baroness, I'm guilty of doing those things to you myself," he replied tenderly, after the kiss was over. He caressed her face. "But I never will again. Anything can happen and I love you too much to ever take you for granted again!"

"Oh, Destro!" She cried and crushed her lips to his. He returned it hungrily, and everything else faded away as they sank into a loving, passionate embrace.

Meanwhile, a surprised Beachhead back away from the door a couple of steps. _They really do_ _love each other_! He thought. Sure, he knew they had been a couple for practically forever, but the way they were always fighting made him think they weren't all that serious about each other. But now he knew that they were.

Shaking his head, he suddenly spotted Cover Girl coming toward him. His heart began to beat faster as he gazed at the beauty approaching.

"Hi, Courtney," He greeted her, using her real name.

"Hi, Wayne," She replied, using his. "Can you believe this? I mean, Joes and Cobras together like this and not trying to kill each other!"

"I know," he replied. "It seems unreal."

She grinned. "It won't when Serpentor wakes up," she pointed out.

"Then the fireworks will start!" He said, shaking his head. He wasn't looking forward to that at all. Then, he came to a decision. He couldn't wait any longer. "Courtney, can I ask you something?" His nervousness was evident in his voice.

"Of course, Wayne," She replied. "You can ask me anything." She smiled reassuringly.

His heart was pounding. "Courtney, I, uh, was wondering, if uh, you would like to maybe go to a movie of something with me sometime," he asked in a rush. Then he barreled on, not seeing the huge grin appear on her face. "Of course, if you don't want to, that's okay. I just thought that maybe you…"

"Wayne…" She interrupted.

"Might want to go out with me somewhere, but if…"

"Wayne," She said more loudly and firmly. It was enough to startle him out of his rambling.

"Huh? What?" He asked, flustered. He just knew he was making a fool out of himself. But when he looked at her, he saw that she was smiling!

"I thought you'd never ask!"

Beachhead could hardly believe what he was hearing. "You mean you'd want to?" Disbelief filled his voice.

She cupped his chin with her hand. "Of course I would! I'm crazy about you! But I thought I'd have gray hair by the time you finally asked me!"

Now Beachhead smiled. "I'm just not that good at this sort of thing, even though it's been months since I fell for you, and I thought that you'd never been interested in someone like me, and-I better shut up before my mouth gets me into trouble," blushing, he trailed off.

She giggled. "You need to relax, Wayne," she said, even though he was so cute when he blushed and his confession of having fallen for her made her heart race and her knees weak. She's been in love with him for a long time, too! Then she grinned mischievously. "And I know just the thing to do that." She leaned forward and eagerly pressed her lips to his.

Beachhead was so surprised that it took him a moment to respond. But then he did, slipping his arms around her and pulling her closer. Her arms came around his neck as she deepened the kiss. When the kiss ended, another one began. He moaned softly, feeling happier than he could ever remember feeling.

About an hour later, when they had finally pried themselves apart, and after some coffee in the cafeteria, they went into the room. A lot of people had come while they'd been downstairs. The Baroness was still snuggled up to Destro, and Zarana and her brothers were sitting on a couch near Serpentor again. Duke, Hawk, Ace, Gung-Ho, Lady Jaye, and several more Joes were scattered around the room as well. Dr. Mindbender, Cobra Commander, and Tomax and Xamot also were there.

"Hi, Beach, hi, Cover Girl," Lady Jaye greeted them.

"Hi, guys," Beachhead replied.

"Ooh, look at you two!" Scarlett exclaimed suddenly.

"Huh, what?" Beachhead asked, confused.

"They're holding hands!" Ace said excitedly.

"Who cares," Cobra Commander muttered as Beachhead blushed beet red.

Cover Girl just smiled and squeezed his hand a little tighter. "We're together!"

"Whoopee," Cobra Commander said before any of the Joes could speak.

"Zip it, moron," Gung-Ho snapped at him.

A loud groan sounded before Cobra Commander could shoot off an angry retort.

"What was that?" Duke asked no one in particular.

"It's Serpentor!" Zarana exclaimed. "He's waking up!"

They all looked at him. Sure enough, he was stirring. He groaned again and opened his eyes. "Where am I?" He asked groggily.

"In a hospital," Dr. Mindbender answered. Duke left to get a doctor.

"Where are the robots?" He asked, looking around frantically. "The…"

"They were destroyed," Zarana replied. "Just relax."

"But how did I get here? What happened to the Gamesmaster?" He was still looking around frantically. "And why does my head feel like it was run over by a truck?"

"Serpentor, you must stay calm," Dr. Mindbender insisted. "Or else you'll aggravate your injures."

"The doctor will be right in," Duke announced, coming back into the room.

"I'll tell you what happened," Zarana said. "But you need to stay calm." She proceeded to tell him all that had happened after he was knocked out, including what his injuries were.

"We were worried sick," Dr. Mindbender added when she was done. A few Joes snickered softly.

"Where is this freak?" He demanded hotly. "I will make him suffer for this!"

"He's in federal custody," Hawk spoke up. "And I don't think they will let you beat him up." This was met by more snickers by the Joes and some Cobras.

"Well, he got damn lucky!" Serpentor growled. Duke rolled his eyes, but before he could say anything, the doctor came in.

As he started examining Serpentor, he and the other Cobras started bickering amongst themselves.

Hawk looked at Duke. "It's good to see some things never change!"

Duke grinned. "Definitely!" The other Joes agreed. And as the bickering continued, they were glad everyone was going to be okay and that things would soon be back to normal.

**THE END**

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**A/N:** So what did you think? Was the story good? Please review and let me know how it was!


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